Asian Stocks Fall, Extend Global Rout, on U.S. Treasury, Intel

Nov. 13 (Bloomberg) -- Asian stocks and U.S. futures fell, extending a global rout, as the U.S. Treasury scrapped plans to buy mortgage assets, Intel Corp. cut its sales forecast and Best Buy Co. warned of a slowdown in spending.

“With Paulson’s plan change, investors think the initial $700 billion won’t be enough,” Mitsushige Akino, who oversees about $468 million at Ichiyoshi Investment Management Co., said in an interview with Bloomberg Television. “Best Buy’s forecast illustrates the dimming spending climate in the U.S.”

The MSCI Asia Pacific Index fell 3.9 percent to 83.12 at 9:28 a.m. in Tokyo. All Asian markets open for trading slumped. Japan’s Nikkei 225 Stock Average dropped 5.2 percent to 8,246.22. Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 Index declined 4.3 percent.