Reply #17: Asian Stocks: Hong Kong Slides, Led by PCCW; NTT DoCoMo Climbs

[Ghost Dog]

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=aE3ER4m0i5T8&refer=worldwide

Dec. 1 (Bloomberg) -- Hong Kong's stocks declined, leading a drop in Asian markets. PCCW, the city's biggest phone company, fell the most in four months on concern a dispute between its two largest shareholders will hamper an expansion into China.

``The fall in the share price is a reflection of the stalemate'' over the sale of assets in PCCW, said Gabriel Yap, senior dealing director at Phillip Securities Pte in Singapore.

NTT DoCoMo Inc. led gains in Japan after the nation's jobless rate slid to an almost eight-year low, supporting expansion in the region's largest economy. CSL Ltd., the world's second-biggest maker of blood products, fell after the Australian dollar climbed, damping overseas earnings in local currency terms.

The Morgan Stanley Capital International Asia-Pacific Index fell 0.3 percent to 135.90 at 6:05 p.m. in Tokyo, paring its gain this week to 2.5 percent. Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index slid 1.4 percent. The measure lost 3 percent this week, snapping an eight-week rally.

Japan's Nikkei 225 Stock Average rose 0.3 percent to 16,321.78, while Australia's S&P/ASX 200 Index fell 1 percent. Measures advanced in South Korea, Taiwan, India, Indonesia, Thailand and China. Markets were closed in the Philippines.

/...