ASIA STOCKS declined

Asian stocks fell, extending a rout that wiped out about $400 billion from the value of global equities yesterday, amid concern that central banks from Tokyo to Washington are increasingly reluctant to add stimulus.

The MSCI Asia Pacific Index dropped 0.4% to 131.02.

Markets in China, Hong Kong, Taiwan and the Philippines were shut for holidays.

Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 Index retreated 0.7%, led by energy and financial shares. Woodside Petroleum Ltd. (WPL), Australia’s second-biggest oil and gas producer, dropped 2%. Westpac Banking Corp. (WBC), Australia’s No. 2 lender by market value, shed 1.2%.

New Zealand’s NZX 50 Index slid 0.5%. South Korea’s Kospi index fell 0.6%. Singapore’s Straits Times Index dropped 0.5%.

Japanese exporters dropped after the yen gained 2.8% against the dollar yesterday, the biggest rise since May 2010. Toyota dropped 1.8%. Mazda Motor Corp., an automaker that gets 29% of its sales in North America, dropped 2.4%.

Hyundai Merchant Marine Co. plunged 15% in Seoul after North Korea called off talks yesterday on a joint industrial zone. Nomura Real Estate Master Fund Inc., Japan’s largest initial public offering this year, fell 6.2% in its debut.

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