By Jonathan Burgos Apr 28, 2014 8:33 AM GMT+0800

 

Asian stocks fell for a third day, with the regional benchmark index heading for a two-week low, amid prospects Russia will be subject to new sanctions as tensions over Ukraine intensify.

Honda Motor Co. sank 4.7 percent as Japan&rsquo s third-largest carmaker forecast a full-year profit that missed analysts&rsquo estimates. Japan Display Inc. tumbled 11 percent after the supplier of screens for Apple Inc.&rsquo s iPhones posted operating profit and sales that fell short of expectations. Newcrest Mining Ltd., Australia&rsquo s largest gold producer, rose 3.8 percent as the bullion traded near a two-week high.

The MSCI Asia Pacific Index lost 0.4 percent to 137.64 as of 9:31 a.m. in Tokyo, with nine of 10 industry groups falling. The gauge dropped 0.7 percent last week after preliminary Chinese manufacturing data signaled persisting weakness in the world&rsquo s second-largest economy. The U.S. and European Union will impose new sanctions on Russia as soon as today as the crisis in Ukraine escalates amid the detention of international observers by pro-Russian separatists.

&ldquo The Ukrainian tensions are once again mounting,&rdquo Evan Lucas, a Melbourne-based markets strategist with IG Ltd., said in an e-mail to clients. &ldquo This will mean that Asia is starting the week on the back foot.&rdquo

Regional Gauges

Japan&rsquo s Topix index fell 1 percent. The nation&rsquo s retail sales rose 6.3 percent in March from February, beating analyst estimates. Australia&rsquo s S& P/ASX 200 Index was little changed, while New Zealand&rsquo s NZX 50 Index lost 0.4 percent as both markets resume trading following a long weekend. South Korea&rsquo s Kospi index added 0.2 percent. Markets in China and Hong Kong have yet to open.

The Bloomberg index of the most-traded Chinese stocks in the U.S. dropped 2.3 percent last week as Sina Corp., a mainland micro-blogging service like Twitter, plunged 15 percent. The company led declines among Internet stocks as the government cracked down on online pornography, with the official Xinhua News Agency reporting two of Sina&rsquo s licenses would be revoked amid the campaign.

Profits at Chinese industrial companies rose 10.1 percent in the first quarter from a year earlier, according to a report from the country&rsquo s statistics bureau released yesterday. China&rsquo s official manufacturing purchasing managers&rsquo index, due May 1, is expected to come in at 50.5 for April, up from 50.3 for March, according to a Bloomberg survey of economists. Readings above 50 signal expansion.

The MSCI Asia Pacific Index traded at 12.6 times estimated earnings as of April 25 compared with 15.9 for the Standard & Poor&rsquo s 500 Index, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.

Futures on the S& P 500 lost less than 0.1 percent today. The U.S. benchmark gauge slipped 0.8 percent on April 25, while the technology-heavy Nasdaq Composite Index dropped 1.8 percent amid concern earnings growth is too slow to justify valuations.

 

 

LAST week, US stocks fell as traders bet Russia and the West were about to enter a punishing economic war over Ukraine - a pattern likely to continue this week.