Asian Financial Stocks Fall (Bloomberg)  (24-06-2008)

June 24 (Bloomberg) -- Asian financial stocks fell after Goldman, Sachs & Co. advised selling banks as credit losses widen and Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. said the parent of Japan's largest consumer-finance company may be insolvent.

Australia & New Zealand Banking Group Ltd. dropped to the lowest in almost four years, while Aiful Corp. slumped in Tokyo after an analyst at Lehman said the company's parent may have ``funding issues.'' Rio Tinto Group led mining shares higher, leaving Asia's stock index little changed, after Baosteel Group Corp. agreed to pay at least 80 percent more for Rio's iron ore.

The MSCI Asia Pacific Index dropped 0.2 percent to 138.39 as of 5:46 p.m. in Tokyo, extending a three-day, 4 percent decline. Financial companies have led the sell-off among the benchmark's 10 groups in the past month on speculation credit-related losses will mount and after Moody's Investors Service stripped bond insurers MBIA Inc. and Ambac Financial Corp. of their Aaa ratings. Japan's Nikkei 225 Stock Average lost 0.1 percent to 13,849.56. Toyota Motor Corp., the world's second-largest automaker, declined after saying it may cut its 2008 sales forecast as demand in the U.S. slumps.

Source Bloomberg