ASIA PACIFIC

STOCKS fell yesterday as crude traded near a four-year low, and Chinese shares extended losses amid fading interest in the equity-trading link with Hong Kong.

Kunlun Energy slid 2.9 percent in Hong Kong. Materials shares led declines, with Fortescue Metals Group tumbling 7.7 percent in Sydney as a bear market for iron ore deepened. Hong Kong Exchanges & Clearing capped its biggest three-day drop since October 2011 as buy orders for Shanghai shares through the equity connect slowed to a trickle. Takata plunged to a fiveyear low after the US demanded that car makers expand recalls involving the company’s faulty air bags.

The MSCI Asia Pacific index dropped 0.5 percent to 139.97 as of 4.12pm in Hong Kong. The gauge climbed 5.2 percent from its October low through Tuesday after the Bank of Japan unexpectedly added to monetary easing and the nation’s $1.1 trillion (R12 trillion) pension fund said it would buy more shares. – Bloomberg