Asian stocks fell, extending four weeks of declines, while gold rallied to a record as speculation that central banks will announce further stimulus measures failed to dent concern the global economic recovery is slowing. The yen weakened, while Brent oil dropped. The MSCI Asia Pacific Index sank 0.9 percent at 1:25 p.m. in Tokyo. Standard & Poor’s 500 Index futures dipped 0.1 percent after losing as much as 1 percent and gaining as much as 0.8 percent. Treasury 10-year notes retreated for the first time in a week. The yen dropped 0.3 percent against the dollar on concern Japan will take steps to weaken its currency. Gold jumped as much as 1.5 percent. Brent crude sank 2.4 percent. The four-week rout has wiped out more than $8 trillion in global equity values and dragged the MSCI All-Country World Index down 19 percent from its May 2 high. Central bankers from around the world will meet in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, this week amid record-low yields on U.S. Treasuries that show traders expect Federal Reserve Chairman Ben S. Bernanke to signal a third round of asset purchases to boost the faltering recovery. “We’re at a point where the alarm bells are sounding,” Nick Maroutsos, a Sydney-based money manager who oversees the equivalent of about $4 billion at Kapstream Capital, said in a Bloomberg Television interview. “There needs to be a stop-gap put in the market, so that people can have some sort of confidence that the Fed officials, as well as government officials, are standing by their side to help them through this.” Stocks Slide The MSCI Asia Pacific Index completed a four-week, 14 percent slump on Aug. 19, driving valuations down to 12 times estimated earnings, the lowest level since November 2008. Japan’s Nikkei 225 Stock Average slid 0.1 percent, and Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 Index climbed 0.4 percent. Taiwan’s Taiex Index declined 0.5 percent. The gauge earlier jumped as much as 1.7 percent after the island’s exchange yesterday asked companies to continue to buy back shares and hold briefings to boost investors’ confidence. BlueScope Steel Ltd. (BSL), Australia’s biggest steelmaker, sank 7 percent after it swung to a full-year loss, forcing the company to stop exports and shut down a blast furnace. Parkson Retail Group Ltd. surged 5 percent in Hong Kong after reporting a 16 percent increase in first-half profit. Futures expiring in September indicate the S&P 500 may extend a four-week losing streak. The gauge fell 1.5 percent to 1,123.53 on Aug. 19 and a closing level of 1,090.88 would bring the index to a 20 percent decline since April 29, meeting the common definition of a bear market. Bernanke’s Options Bernanke told Congress on July 13 that the Fed must “keep all the options on the table” if the economy appeared in danger of stalling or if the threat of deflation looked like it was going to re-emerge. The Fed bought about $1.7 trillion of government and mortgage-related debt in its first round of quantitative easing, or QE1, between December 2008 and March 2010, and purchased $600 billion of Treasuries between November 2010 and June through QE2. Data due on Aug. 26 may show the economy grew at a 1.1 percent annual pace in the second quarter, down from the 1.3 percent estimated last month, according to the median estimate in a Bloomberg News survey. “The last thing Bernanke wants to be is behind on deflation,” Todd Martin, Asia equity strategist at Societe Generale SA, said in a Bloomberg Television interview. “We’re getting to the point now where the Fed could potentially act.” Treasury Yields Yields on 10-year Treasuries climbed three basis points to 2.09 percent, after reaching a record low of 1.97 percent on Aug. 18. Treasury 30-year yields were little changed at 3.39 percent. Barclays Plc said 10-year yields indicate traders have priced in $500 billion to $600 billion of Treasury purchases by the Fed. Citigroup Inc. said current rates can only be justified by more central-bank bond buying, or assuming the economy will shrink 2 percent. The cost of protecting corporate bonds in Japan and Australia from default increased, with the Markit iTraxx Japan index rising 1.5 basis points to 141.5 basis points, Deutsche Bank AG prices show. The index, which fell to as low as 133.5 on Aug. 18, is on course for its highest close since March 31, CMA prices in New York show. The Markit iTraxx Australia index added one basis point to 164, Credit Agricole CIB prices show. The benchmark risk indicator is set for its highest level since July 23, 2009, according to CMA. Intervention Speculation The yen fell to 76.75 per dollar from 76.55 on Aug. 19 in New York, after the Nikkei newspaper reported Japanese officials are prepared to intervene in the foreign-exchange market if the nation’s currency continues to advance. It rose to its post- World War II record of 75.95 on Aug. 19. Gold for immediate delivery climbed 1 percent to $1,870.70 an ounce after earlier reaching an all-time high of $1,879.05. Cash silver jumped 1.2 percent to $43.4144 an ounce, up for a seventh day. Crude for September delivery declined 0.3 percent to $82 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, following a four- week slump. The more active October contract retreated 0.3 percent to $82.15. Brent oil for October settlement sank 2.2 percent to $106.20 a barrel on the London-based ICE Futures Europe exchange, narrowing its premium to U.S. oil from a record amid speculation Libyan leader Muammar Qaddafi’s regime is crumbling, paving the way for a recovery in the country’s crude production. Three-month copper on the London Metal Exchange gained as much as 0.7 percent to $8,890 a ton on an expectation of continued Chinese buying on price dips after stockpiles monitored by the Shanghai Futures Exchange fell for the first time in six weeks. China will announce refined copper import data for July later today. To contact the reporter on this story: Shiyin Chen in Singapore at schen37@bloomberg.net To contact the editor responsible for this story: Bloomberg News at rdobson4@bloomberg.net

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