Japanese stock futures and Australian shares fell a day after North Korea attacked South Korea, and concern grew that Europe’s debt crisis and China’s measures to tame inflation will slow a global economic recovery. American depositary receipts of Advantest Corp., which is the world’s biggest maker of memory-chip testers and gets more than 25 percent of its revenue from South Korea, plunged 3.1 percent from the closing share price in Tokyo on Nov. 22. Japanese markets were closed yesterday for a holiday. ADRs of Toyota Motor Corp., Honda Motor Co. and Nissan Motor Co., Japan’s three largest carmakers, tumbled at least 2.4 percent. BHP Billiton Ltd., the world’s No. 1 mining company, lost 0.7 percent in Sydney today after commodity prices declined. “Japan will be adversely affected because it’s right in the center of the conflict,” said Jamie Coutts, sales manager at the brokerage BGC Partners in Singapore. “North Korea has spoken about targeting Japan in the past. Any escalation in tensions over there directly affects Japan, probably more than any country in the region other than South Korea itself.” Futures on Japan’s Nikkei 225 Stock Average expiring in December closed at 9,855 in Chicago yesterday, compared with the gauge’s close of 10,115.19 on Nov. 22. They were bid in the pre- market at 9,850 in Osaka, Japan, at 8:05 a.m. local time. Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 Index retreated 0.8 percent today. New Zealand’s NZX 50 Index slid 0.3 percent in Wellington. Korean Conflict North Korea fired artillery shells yesterday at the South Korean island of Yeonpyeong near the disputed border between the two countries, killing two soldiers and setting houses ablaze in the worst attack on its neighbor in at least eight months. News of the skirmish broke out after markets in South Korea, Australia and New Zealand had closed for trading. South Korea returned fire and scrambled fighter jets as President Lee Myung Bak vowed to respond “sternly.” The clash came 11 days after North Korea showed a uranium-enrichment plant to visiting U.S. scientists. Futures on the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index were little today. The index slid 1.4 percent yesterday, its biggest decrease in a week, and more than 15 times as many stocks declined as advanced. The MSCI Asia Pacific Index increased 8.9 percent this year through yesterday, compared with gains of 5.9 percent by the S&P 500 and 3.8 percent by the Stoxx Europe 600 Index. Stocks in the Asian benchmark are valued at 14.5 times estimated earnings on average, compared with 13.9 times for the S&P 500 and 11.8 times for the Stoxx 600. Crude oil for January delivery lost 0.6 percent yesterday in New York to settle at $81.25 a barrel, and copper futures dropped 1.1 percent. The London Metal Exchange Index of prices for six industrial metals including copper and aluminum fell 1.6 percent yesterday. Gold futures jumped 1.5 percent, the biggest gain for a most-active contract since Nov. 4. The yen appreciated to 110.75 against the euro about 1:40 a.m. in Tokyo, its strongest level since Sept. 16. A stronger yen reduces the value of overseas income at Japanese companies when converted into their home currency. To contact the reporters for this story: Akiko Ikeda in Tokyo at iakiko@bloomberg.net; Jonathan Burgos in Singapore at jburgos4@bloomberg.net. To contact the editor responsible for this story: Nick Gentle at ngentle2@bloomberg.net.

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