Sony Corp. (6758), which depends on Europe for a fifth of its sales, lost 1.8 percent in Tokyo.Newcrest Mining Ltd. (NCM), Australia’s third-largest mining company by market value, dropped 2.7 percent after a gauge of metal prices fell the most in two months. Tokyo Electric Power Co. rose 0.5 percent after the Nikkei newspaper reported the utility will sell a majority stake to the government.

The MSCI Asia Pacific Index dropped 0.4 percent to 124.98 as of 9:16 a.m. in Tokyo, with three stocks falling for each that rose, before the Hong Kong market opened. The measure slid 1.5 percent yesterday, the biggest decline since Dec. 19.

In Europe, “investors realize those economies are heading into a significant recession, they have poor fiscal positions, Spain obviously with the banking system,” said Andrew Pease, Sydney-based chief investment strategist for the Asia-Pacific region at Russell Investment Group, which manages about $150 billion. “Gains from here are going to be hard work.”

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/2012-04-05/asia-stocks-slide-as-europe-debt-crisis-concern-flares.html

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