Australia & New Zealand Banking Group Ltd., Australia’s third-largest lender by market value, slid 2.1 percent amid concern Europe’s crisis will hurt the global financial system. Sony Corp. (6758), Japan’s No. 1 exporter of consumer electronics that gets 21 percent of its revenue in Europe, lost 2.5 percent as the yen’s advance to an 11-year high versus the euro damped the earnings outlook for exporters. BHP Billiton Ltd. (BHP), the world’s biggest miner, fell 1.8 percent in Sydney after commodity prices dropped.

The MSCI Asia Pacific Index (CRY) fell 1.2 percent to 115.50 as of 10:23 a.m. in Tokyo. More than five stocks fell for each that rose in the measure. and all 10 industry groups declined. The measure added 2.2 percent last week.

“It’s unrealistic to expect Europe to make progress in dealing with debt issues in a straight line without having hiccups,” said Prasad Patkar, who helps manage about $1 billion at Platypus Asset Management Ltd. in Sydney. S&P’s ratings downgrades are “not going to help investor sentiment.”

Futures on the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index slid 0.5 percent today. The index lost 0.5 percent inNew York on Jan. 13. After the market closed, S&P said France was downgraded, while Germany had its credit rating affirmed.

S&P Downgrades

Germany, Belgium, Estonia, Finland, Ireland, Luxembourg and the Netherlands had their ratings affirmed by S&P as France lost its AAA rating. France was cut to AA+ and the rating has a negative outlook, S&P said in a statement. Cyprus, Italy, Portugal and Spain were cut two grades, S&P said. The long-term ratings on Austria, Malta, Slovakia and Slovenia were cut one level.

Japan’s Nikkei 225 Stock Average fell 1.6 percent even after a report showed the nation’s machine orders in November surged to the highest level since January 2008. Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 slid 1.3 percent, while South Korea’s KOSPI Index lost 1.6 percent.

Financial companies contributed the most to the decline in the MSCI Asia Pacific Index before France sells as much as 8.7 billion euros ($11 billion) of bills today, followed by Spain’s and Greece’s bill sales tomorrow. Australia & New Zealand Banking Group lost 2.1 percent to A$20.75. Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group Inc. (8306), Japan’s biggest lender, fell 2.1 percent to 327 yen.

Exporters to Europe dropped after the euro touched 97.17 yen today, the lowest price since November 2000. A weaker euro erodes Asian exporters’ earnings in Europe. Sony slid 2.5 percent to 1,294 yen. Canon Inc. (7751), a Japanese camera maker that generates about a third of its sales in Europe, declined 2.1 percent to 3,285 yen.

China’s GDP

The Shanghai Composite Index, which tracks the bigger of China’s stock exchanges, may be active ahead of tomorrow’s data that economists said will show China’s economy grew the least in 10 quarters.

Gross domestic product, the value of all goods and services produced, rose 8.7 percent from a year earlier, the slowest pace since the second quarter of 2009, according to the median forecast of 26 economists surveyed by Bloomberg News. The data, plus indicators for investment, retail sales and industrial production, are scheduled to be released tomorrow in Beijing.

The MSCI Asia Pacific Index advanced 2.7 percent this year through Jan. 13, compared with a 2.5 percent gain by the S&P 500 and a 1.9 percent increase by the Stoxx Europe 600 Index. Stocks in the Asian benchmark are valued at 12.3 times estimated earnings on average, compared with 12.3 times for the S&P 500 and 10 times for the Stoxx 600.

BHP Billiton fell 1.8 percent to A$35.94 after the Thomson Reuters/Jefferies CRB Index (CRY)of raw materials dropped 0.7 percent on Jan. 13.

To contact the reporter on this story: Yoshiaki Nohara in Tokyo at ynohara1@bloomberg.net

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Nick Gentle at ngentle2@bloomberg.net.

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-01-16/asian-stocks-decline-before-france-sells-bills-following-rating-downgrade.html

• Asian Stocks Rise on Faster Japan Inflation, U.S. Outlook   (2014-05-30 09:33:27)
• Asian Stocks Rise on Faster Japan Inflation, U.S. Outlook   (2014-05-30 09:33:27)
• Asian Stocks Rise on Faster Japan Inflation, U.S. Outlook   (2014-05-30 09:33:02)
• Asian Stocks Fluctuate After Japan Retail Sales Slump   (2014-05-29 09:37:51)
• Asian Stocks Fall Second Day as Health-Care Shares Drop   (2014-04-08 08:52:58)
• Industrial Stocks Take ETF Bounty   (2014-04-08 08:52:29)
• Asian Stocks Set for Second Weekly Gain Before U.S. Jobs   (2014-04-04 09:46:16)
• Australia Model Curbs Speed as CEO Says U.S. Too Far Gone   (2014-04-04 09:45:49)
• Asia Stocks Rise 4th Day as Consumer Shares Lead Gain   (2014-03-31 10:48:33)
• Asia Stocks Swing After U.S. Manufacturing Index Falls   (2014-03-25 11:29:14)