Toyota Motor Corp. (7203), Asia’s biggest carmaker by market value that gets 28 percent of its revenue in North America, fell 1 percent. BHP Billiton Ltd. (BHP), Australia’s biggest oil producer, slid 0.9 percent as crude oil prices traded near the lowest close in a week. Leighton Holdings Ltd. (LEI), Australia’s largest construction company, slumped 6.5 percent after cutting its profit forecast for the 2012 fiscal year because wet weather and lower-than-expected productivity raised costs.

The MSCI Asia Pacific Index dropped 0.2 percent to 127.01 as of 9:38 a.m. in Tokyo, having lost 1.5 percent this month. The measure added 11.8 percent this year through yesterday, headed for the biggest three-month gain since the third quarter of 2010, amid speculation a strengthening U.S. recovery will boost the earnings for Asia’s exporters.

“With all the good news being factored in, we are coming to a tougher period and markets are vulnerable to any bad news,” said Shane Oliver, Sydney-based head of investment strategy at AMP Capital Investors Ltd., which has almost $100 billion under management. “We are starting to see data come out on the softer side of what’s expected. On its own, the durable goods data is still consistent with the economic growth in the U.S.”

Japan’s Nikkei 225 Stock Average fell 0.6 percent, and South Korea’s Kospi Index dropped 0.6 percent. Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 rose 0.1 percent.

Factory Orders

Futures on the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index (SPXL1) were little changed today. The index lost 0.5 percent in New York yesterday after a report showed that factory bookings for goods meant to last at least three years advanced 2.2 percent in February, less than projected after a revised 3.6 percent decline in January. Federal Reserve Chairman Ben S. Bernanke said unemployment remains too high, the economic recovery isn’t guaranteed and policy makers don’t rule out any further options to spur growth.

Toyota dropped 1 percent to 3,600 yen. Samsung Electronics Co. (005930), South Korea’s biggest exporter of consumer electronics, fell 1 percent to 1.289 million won.

Energy companies fell after crude oil for May delivery slumped 1.8 percent to $105.41 yesterday in New York, the lowest close since March 22. BHP Billiton lost 0.9 percent to A$34.31. Inpex Corp. (1662), Japan’s No. 1 energy explorer, fell 0.7 percent to 568,000 yen.

Leighton plunged 6.5 percent to A$22.21 in Sydney after saying its underlying profit in the year ending Dec. 31 will be between A$400 million ($415 million) and A$450 million, citing increased costs due to wet weather and lower-than-expected productivity. That’s down from the A$600 million to A$650 million range the Sydney-based company provided in January.

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/2012-03-29/asia-stocks-fall-as-u-s-factory-orders-miss-estimates.html

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