Sony Corp. (6758), Japan’s No. 1 exporter of consumer electronics that gets one-fifth of its revenue in Europe, slid 2.4 percent. Newcrest Mining Ltd. (NCM) declined 2.8 percent in Sydney, leading mining companies lower after metal and commodity prices dropped. Advantest Corp. (6857), a maker of memory-chip testers, fell 1 percent in Tokyo after the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index, which tracks the performance of 30 industry stocks, lost 0.9 percent yesterday.

The MSCI Asia Pacific Index slid 0.8 percent to 124.50 as of 9:58 a.m. in Tokyo, set for the lowest close since Feb. 3. More than six stocks fell for each that rose.

“We are seeing a correction after a rapid rally,” said Hitoshi Asaoka, a Tokyo-based senior strategist at Mizuho Trust & Banking Co. “A major trend in Europe hasn’t changed in that banks strengthen their capital, which leads to a credit crunch and an economic slowdown. The market will remain sensitive to European news flow until Greece makes it through March 20,” a bond redemption date.

Japan’s Nikkei 225 Stock Average lost 0.9 percent. Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 fell 1 percent, and South Korea’s Kospi Index declined 1.3 percent.

European Slowdown

Australia’s economy expanded at half the pace economists forecast last quarter as a housing construction slump slowed growth. Fourth-quarter gross domestic product advanced 0.4 percent, a report showed today.

Futures on the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index (SPXL1) added 0.2 percent today. The gauge sank 1.5 percent in New York yesterday, the biggest drop since Dec. 8, after a report showed the euro region’s gross domestic product shrank 0.3 percent last quarter from the previous period.

“There’s concern about whether or not there will be enough participants in the Greek debt swap,” Michael Koskuba, who helps oversee $28 million at Victory Capital Management Inc. in New York, said in a telephone interview. “The fear is that if it doesn’t happen the way most want it to happen, there’s potential for a greater recession in Europe.”

Private investors who have so far declared their participation in Greece’s debt restructuring hold about one- fifth of the bonds involved in a swap, which ends March 8, required for a bailout.

Avoiding Risk

“More investors are avoiding risk assets as uncertainty about the global outlook emerge because of the Greek debt issue,” said Hiroichi Nishi, an equities manager in Tokyo at SMBC Nikko Securities Inc.

The London Metal Exchange Index of prices for six industrial commodities including copper and aluminum sank 2.6 percent yesterday, falling the most since Feb. 10. The Thomson Reuters/Jefferies CRB Index (CRY) of raw materials dropped 1.6 percent yesterday.

The MSCI Asia Pacific Index gained 10.2 percent this year through yesterday, compared with a 6.8 percent advance by the S&P 500 and a 5.7 percent increase by the Stoxx Europe 600 Index. Stocks in the Asian benchmark are valued at 14.6 times estimated earnings on average, compared with 12.9 times for the S&P 500 and 10.8 times for the Stoxx 600.

To contact the reporters 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.

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