Nov. 7 (Bloomberg) -- Asian stocks fell for a third week, dragging the MSCI Asia Pacific Index to its longest stretch of declines in eight months, on concern the easing of government stimulus measures will jeopardize the global economic recovery.

Hyundai Motor Co. sank 4.6 percent this week after South Korea’s government said it’s “unclear” if the economic rebound will be sustained. National Australia Bank Ltd., Australia’s largest bank by sales, lost 3.7 percent after the nation’s central bank lifted borrowing costs. Sino Land Co. slumped 2.7 percent on concern Hong Kong will curb property speculation.

The MSCI Asia Pacific Index slumped 0.08 percent to 116.37 this week. The gauge has surged 64 percent from its lowest in more than five years on March 9 amid signs lower borrowing costs and spending packages are reviving the global economy.

“We’re tending towards the view that we will see some relapse next year as people basically lose faith in governments’ ability to continue to come to the rescue,” said Peter Elston, a Singapore-based strategist at Aberdeen Asset Management Plc, which manages about $234 billon.

Japan’s Nikkei 225 Stock Average lost 2.5 percent this holiday-shortened week. Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 Index dropped 1.1 percent. The Kospi Index fell 0.5 percent in Seoul. The Hang Seng Index rose 0.4 percent in Hong Kong.

Hyundai Motor, South Korea’s biggest carmaker, slumped 4.6 percent to 104,500 won. Doosan Corp., the owner of the country’s largest power-equipment maker, plunged 13 percent to 73,100 won. South Korea remains “too dependent” on external demand and the country needs to balance export and local consumption, Finance Minister Yoon Jeung Hyun said on Nov. 5.

Growth Measures

Policy makers around the world are trying to ensure growth continues after the withdrawal of measures introduced to drag the global economy out of recession. This week, Australia raised benchmark interest rates for the second time in four weeks, and the Bank of Japan said it will maintain “the accommodative financial environment” even after deciding to end the purchase of corporate debt in December.

National Australia Bank Ltd. fell 3.7 percent to A$28.75, and Wesfarmers Ltd., the nation’s No. 2 retailer, slid 6 percent to A$26.42. Qantas Airways Ltd. retreated 5.7 percent to A$2.64.

Sino Land dropped 2.7 percent to HK$14.66. Sun Hung Kai Properties Ltd., Hong Kong’s No. 1 property developer by market value, declined 2.8 percent to HK$116.30. Cheung Kong (Holdings) Ltd., the second-biggest, slid 2.9 percent to HK$97.35. Property companies sank the most this week in Hong Kong among the Hang Seng Index’s four industry groups.

Hong Kong Property

Hong Kong Chief Executive Donald Tsang said on Nov. 2 that the government is “closely” monitoring the local property market and has tools available to stabilize it if necessary. The Hong Kong Monetary Authority raised down-payment requirements last month for luxury homes for the first time since 1991.

“People seem to have recognized that their dream about continually rising property shares has burst,” said Castor Pang, a research director at CINDA International Holdings Ltd., a Hong Kong-listed brokerage.

Sony Corp. slumped 7 percent to 2,590 yen, ending a four- week winning streak, even after narrowing a full-year loss forecast by 21 percent.

The dollar weakened to as much as 89.20 yen this week, a level not seen since Oct. 14, after the U.S.-based commercial lender CIT Group Inc. filed for bankruptcy. A weaker dollar reduces the value of overseas sales at Japanese companies when converted into their home currency.

China Manufacturing

“Sony’s shares are adversely affected by the strong yen,” said Ryosuke Katsura, an analyst at Mizuho Securities Co. in Tokyo. “Macroeconomic factors have a larger influence over the stock than the company’s fundamentals.”

The MSCI Asia Pacific Index has declined 4.3 percent from a 13-month high on Oct. 20, driving down its price-estimated earnings ratio to 21.7 on Nov. 5, the lowest level since May 1.

Koichi Kurose, chief strategist at Tokyo-based Resona Bank Ltd., said earnings become the main focus as monetary stimulus policies stop pushing up asset prices.

This week, the Shanghai Composite Index gained 5.6 percent, the biggest increase among benchmark gauges in the Asia-Pacific region. The nation’s manufacturing expanded at the fastest pace in October in 18 months, according to separate reports from the Federation of Logistics and Purchasing and HSBC Holdings Plc.

SAIC Motor Corp., China’s largest carmaker, climbed 6.6 percent to 24.74 yuan, adding to a 9.4 percent jump the previous week, after third-quarter profit swelled more than ninefold. Suning Appliance Co., the nation’s biggest home-appliance retailer by market value, gained 4 percent to 16.82 yuan after saying net income may rise as much as 40 percent in 2009.

China’s economy may grow 9.5 percent in the fourth quarter from a year earlier, Zhang Liqun, a researcher at the State Council Development and Research Center, said on Nov. 1. That would be the biggest gain since the second quarter of 2008.

The World Bank raised China’s economic growth forecast for this year to 8.4 percent and said the country must avert stock and property market bubbles.

To contact the reporter for this story: Masaki Kondo in Tokyo at mkondo3@bloomberg.net; Jonathan Burgos in Singapore at jburgos4@bloomberg.net.

Last Updated: November 6, 2009 16:48 EST