By Rocky Swift and Yoshiaki Nohara Feb. 15 (Bloomberg) -- The euro fell for a fourth day against the dollar and Asian stocks dropped as credit concerns in Greece and Dubai curbed demand for higher-yielding assets. The 16-nation euro traded near an eight-month low ahead of a meeting of European finance chiefs that may provide details of a Greece bailout. The MSCI Asia Pacific Index lost 0.6 percent to 115.73 at 5 p.m. in Tokyo as BlueScope Steel Ltd. posted a loss and China bolstered steps to ease inflation. The Dow Jones Stoxx 600 rose 0.7 percent to 242.65 at 8 a.m. in London. The Dubai Financial Market General Index declined 0.8 percent. EU finance ministers meeting in Brussels today may add details to a plan unveiled last week that called for closer monitoring of the Greek economy. Dubai shares tumbled on Feb. 14 amid concern state-owned Dubai World, which roiled markets last year when it sought to restructure loans, may fail to present a plan to creditors. China last week ordered banks to set aside more deposits as reserves for the second time in a month. “Greece is in a tough situation,” said Hiroshi Watanabe, an economist at the Daiwa Institute of Research in Tokyo. “The nation’s finances are susceptible to failure, as investors may not be able to digest its bond issuance. The issue will weigh on markets.” Japan’s Nikkei 225 Stock Average lost 0.8 percent, even as a government report showed the nation’s economic growth accelerated last quarter. Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 Index slumped 0.4 percent. The Bombay Stock Exchange’s Sensitive Index declined 0.6 percent. Markets in China, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Singapore and Malaysia are closed today for the Lunar New Year holiday. U.S. markets are shut today for Presidents’ Day. BlueScope Loss BlueScope, Australia’s largest steelmaker, slumped 3.1 percent to A$2.48. The company swung to a loss in the first half because of declining prices and a strengthening local currency. The loss was A$28.5 million ($25 million) in the six months ended Dec. 31, compared with profit of A$407 million a year earlier, the Melbourne-based company said today. Material producers and industrials accounted for 27 percent of the MSCI Asia Pacific Index’s drop today. Copper futures in New York sank 1.6 percent on Feb. 12 after China, the world’s largest consumer of the metal, ordered banks to set aside more deposits as loan growth quickened and property prices surged. Mitsubishi Corp., Japan’s biggest commodities trader, declined 1.5 percent to 2,192 yen. Rio Tinto Group, the world’s No. 3 mining company, decreased 1.9 percent to A$70.57 in Sydney. Komatsu Ltd., a Japanese machinery maker that counts China as its fastest-growing market, lost 2.3 percent to 1,776 yen. Shinsei, Aozora Shinsei Bank Ltd. fell 6.7 percent to 97 yen after the Nikkei newspaper said merger talks with Aozora Bank Ltd. collapsed after the two companies failed to agree on a business strategy. Aozora Bank rose 0.9 percent to 110 yen. Japan’s gross domestic product grew an annualized 4.6 percent in the three months ended Dec. 31, more than economists had estimated, according to a government report. Consumer spending rose 0.7 percent, while capital spending increased 1 percent, the report showed. “The mood is still very gloomy,” said Curtis Freeze, president of Honolulu-based Prospect Asset Management, which oversees $1 billion. “People don’t trust the numbers very much.” Greece is expected to resist pressure from the European Central Bank and Germany for an immediate tightening of its budget deficit, the Financial Times reported, citing a senior Greek official it didn’t identify. The Greek government is fighting to postpone a decision on proposed increases in taxes until mid-March, the FT said. Rescue Plan “Concerns over the debt situation in Greece will keep a lid on the euro,” said Toshiya Yamauchi, manager of foreign- exchange margin trading at Ueda Harlow in Tokyo. “People are monitoring closely if EU finance ministers can hammer out a decisive rescue plan.” The euro fell to $1.3593 versus the dollar in Tokyo from $1.3632 in New York on Feb. 12 when it reached $1.3532, the lowest since May 19. The dollar traded at 90.15 yen from 89.96 yen on Feb. 12. Greece, representing 2.7 percent of the trading bloc’s $13 trillion economy, posted a budget deficit of 12.7 percent of gross domestic product in 2009, more than four times the EU’s 3 percent limit. Dubai and Dubai World haven’t yet made an offer to creditors on the state-owned holding company’s debt restructuring plan, a spokeswoman for the emirate’s Department of Finance said yesterday. Zawya Dow Jones said yesterday Dubai World, which is seeking to restructure $22 billion of debt, may offer creditors 60 cents on the dollar after seven years. Oil Falls The cost of protecting Japanese and Australian corporate bonds from default rose the most in more than a week, according to traders of credit-default swaps. The Markit iTraxx Australia index climbed 4.5 basis points to 103 basis points, according to Deutsche Bank AG. The Markit iTraxx Japan index rose 4 basis points to 150 basis points, prices from the Frankfurt-based bank show. Both indexes recorded their biggest increases since Feb. 5, according to prices from CMA DataVision in New York. Oil traded near $74 a barrel after declining as a Department of Energy report showed a bigger-than-forecast increase in U.S. crude inventories and as China sought to cool its economic expansion. Oil dropped 1.5 percent Feb. 12 as China ordered banks to set aside more deposits as reserves for the second time in a month. “Further steps taken by the Chinese to tighten their bank lending and slightly weaker-than-expected European growth data were a negative for sentiment,” said Toby Hassall, commodity analyst at CWA Global Markets Pty in Sydney. “The DOE data wasn’t supportive of higher prices. The crude number was a bit higher than expected.” Crude oil for March delivery traded at $74.15 a barrel, up 2 cents, in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Gold for immediate delivery fell 0.1 percent to $1,092.53 an ounce on speculation investors may seek a haven on concern that budget deficits in Greece, Spain and Portugal may weaken the economic outlook in Europe. Copper on the London Metal Exchange slid 0.3 percent to $6,787 a metric ton, after slumping 1.9 percent on Feb. 12. To contact the reporters on this story: Yoshiaki Nohara in Tokyo at ynohara1@bloomberg.net. Rocky Swift in Tokyo at rswift5@bloomberg.net.

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