05:44, 10 May 2012 | GMT +6

Asian stocks fall to three-month low, Kiwi declines

LONDON. May 10. KAZINFORM Asian stocks fell to the lowest level in more than three months and New Zealand's dollar dropped for an eighth day on concern Greek leaders will back out of bailout agreements. Australian bond yields and the currency sank as the government announced the first budget cuts in at least 42 years.

The MSCI Asia Pacific Index (MXAP) declined 1.2 percent at 3:14 p.m. in Tokyo . Standard & Poor's 500 Index futures fell 0.2 percent, while Euro Stoxx 50 Index futures rose 0.5 percent. The kiwi weakened 0.2 percent against the dollar in its longest losing streak since March 2001. Australian 10-year bond yields slid to a record 3.347 percent, while the Aussie retreated 0.4 percent. Rubber slumped 3.8 percent and gold fell to a four- month low, Bloomberg reports.

Alexis Tsipras, leader of Greece 's Syriza party, said he plans to form a government that would nationalize banks, repeal recent labor reforms and cancel the bailout accords. Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard said a budget surplus would provide scope for interest-rate cuts.

"Europe remains the biggest issue facing markets that we need to have clarity on," said Andrew Pease , Sydney-based chief investment strategist for the Asia-Pacific region at Russell Investment Group, which manages about $150 billion. "It's not clear how deep the downturn is going to be and the effect this is going to have elsewhere."

About four stocks fell for each one that rose in the MSCI Asia Pacific Index, which was poised for its lowest close since Jan. 19. Equity benchmarks in Hong Kong and South Korea dropped at least 0.8 percent.

Exporters, Earnings

Mitsubishi Motors Corp., which got 24 percent of its sales in the December quarter from Europe, declined 2.3 percent. Cosco Corp. Singapore Ltd. (COS) fell 3 percent after the shipbuilding unit of China 's biggest shipping company posted first-quarter earnings that missed analysts' estimates.

Toyota Motor Corp., Asia's biggest automaker, was unchanged. After the market closed, the company said its fourth- quarter profit was 121 billion yen ($1.5 billion), missing the 140.1 billion yen expected by analysts surveyed by Bloomberg.

Quarterly net income at the 455 companies in the MSCI Asia Pacific Index that have reported earnings for the most recent period missed analyst estimates by 0.4 percent, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.