Sept. 14 (Bloomberg) -- Asian stocks fell, dragging the MSCI Asia Pacific Index from a one-year high, amid concern a six-month rally had overvalued prospects for an earnings recovery in the region. Honda Motor Co., which gets 47 percent of its sales in North America, retreated 2.4 percent in Tokyo on concern the yen’s appreciation to a seven-month high against the dollar will reduce the value of overseas revenue. National Australian Bank Ltd., the nation’s biggest by assets, dropped 2.6 percent in Sydney after Treasurer Wayne Swan said unemployment will climb. Santos Ltd., Australia’s No. 3 oil producer, sank 3 percent as commodity prices declined. “Expectations may be beginning to moderate regarding the ongoing strength of the recovery,” said Tim Schroeders, who helps manage about $1 billion at Pengana Capital Ltd. in Melbourne. “Investors will be concentrating on discerning real underlying growth in the global economy.” The MSCI Asia Pacific Index sank 1.4 percent to 116.22 as of 1:05 p.m. in Tokyo after ending last week at its highest level since Sept. 9, 2008. The gauge has climbed 65 percent from a five-year low on March 9 as government stimulus measures worldwide pulled the global economy out of recession. Japan’s Nikkei 225 Stock Average fell 2.2 percent, while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index dropped 0.9 percent. Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 Index declined 1.1 percent. Consumer Confidence K.K. DaVinci Holdings, a real-estate investor, tumbled 14 percent in Tokyo after the company said it wasn’t likely to reach an agreement on a loan extension. Among stocks that gained today, Japan Airlines Corp. jumped 8 percent on speculation American Airlines, Inc. will buy a stake in the company. Futures on the U.S. Standard & Poor’s 500 Index dropped 1 percent. The gauge dipped 0.1 percent on Sept. 11 even after a report showed the Reuters/University of Michigan preliminary index of consumer sentiment rose more than economists had estimated in September. U.S. treasuries rose on speculation declines in Asian stocks and the euro will bolster demand for the safest assets. Philippe Chaumel, a Paris-based money manager at Rothschild & Cie Gestion who beat 94 percent of his peers in the past year, said he’s switching investments into so-called defensive stocks. The MSCI Asia Pacific Index gained 4.4 percent last week, its biggest weekly gain since the period ended July 24. The rally since March has driven the average price of stocks on the gauge to 24 times their estimated net income for this year, compared with 17 times for the S&P 500 and 16 times for Europe’s Dow Jones Stoxx 600 Index. Stronger Yen Honda fell 2.4 percent to 2,795 yen as the yen appreciated versus the dollar to as much as 90.21 today, a level not seen since Feb. 12. A stronger yen reduces the value of overseas sales at Japanese companies when converted into their home currency. Sony Corp., the world’s second-biggest maker of consumer electronics, dropped 2.6 percent to 2,420 yen. Toyota Motor Corp., which got 31 percent of its revenue last fiscal year in North America, lost 1.8 percent to 3,770 yen. Japan’s large manufacturers expect the yen to trade at an average of 94.85 this year, according to the Bank of Japan’s most recent quarterly Tankan survey. “The current exchange rate will adversely affect companies that base their forecasts on 95 yen per dollar,” said Yoshinori Nagano, a senior strategist at Tokyo-based Daiwa Asset Management Co., which oversees the equivalent of $95 billion. “There aren’t a lot of players in the market and that amplifies declines and gains in equities.” Australia’s Jobless Rate In Sydney, National Australia shares dropped 2.6 percent to A$28.28. Australia & New Zealand Banking Group Ltd. declined 2.7 percent to A$22.08. Australia’s unemployment rate will rise from 5.8 percent, boosting the need to maintain the government’s economic stimulus measures, Treasurer Swan said in his weekly economic note released yesterday. “Ripping the stimulus out prematurely would only pull the rug out from under the recovery, undermine confidence and threaten jobs,” Swan wrote. Separately, Joseph Stiglitz, a Nobel Prize-winning economist, said in an interview in Paris over the weekend that the U.S. banking system is in a worse state than before the seizure in credit markets and collapse of Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. Lehman Bankruptcy Tomorrow is the one-year anniversary of Lehman’s bankruptcy filing, which exacerbated the credit crunch and helped drag the global economy into its worst slowdown since World War II. Losses from the credit crisis at the world’s biggest financial institutions since the start of 2007 have climbed to more than $1.6 trillion. New Zealand’s statistics office today reported a 0.5 percent decline in the country’s retail sales, missing the 0.4 percent increase anticipated by economists in a Bloomberg survey. Fisher & Paykel Appliances Holdings Ltd., New Zealand’s biggest maker of cookers and washers, lost 1.3 percent to 77 New Zealand cents in Wellington. Warehouse Group Ltd., the country’s biggest discount retailer, dropped 0.9 percent to NZ$4.21. In Sydney, Santos sank 3.3 percent to A$15.36, while Rio Tinto Group, the world’s No. 3 mining company, fell 1.6 percent to A$58.29. Mitsui & Co., which counts commodities as its biggest source of profit, lost 1.9 percent to 1,210 yen in Tokyo. Copper futures in New York dropped 2.4 percent today, the fourth day of declines. A gauge of six metals in London lost 3.5 percent on Sept. 11. Crude oil dropped 1.1 percent today, adding to a 3.7 percent slump on Sept. 11. Aussie, Kiwi Dollars The Australian and New Zealand dollars fell today, retreating from last week’s strongest levels since August 2008, following the declines in commodities, which account for more than half of the two nations’ exports. K.K. DaVinci, which manages real-estate investment funds, tumbled 14 percent to 12,350 yen following the statement on its loan extension. Japan Airlines climbed 8 percent to 176 yen. American Airlines may buy a stake in the carrier, people familiar with the plan said. Japan Airlines, which has received three government bailouts since 2001, is also discussing possible stake sales to Delta Air Lines Inc. and Air France-KLM, people familiar with those negotiations have said. Japan Air is talking with other carriers to strengthen its business, spokeswoman Sze Hunn Yap said in Tokyo, declining to comment on discussions or possible investments. To contact the reporter for this story: Shani Raja in Sydney at sraja4@bloomberg.net.

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