Aug. 12 (Bloomberg) -- Asian shares fell, led by telephone companies and commodity producers, after Singapore Telecommunications Ltd.'s profit missed estimates and metals prices extended declines.

SingTel, Southeast Asia's largest phone company, dropped, while China Mobile Ltd. retreated after Citigroup Inc. cut its price target. Australia's Newcrest Mining Ltd. fell after gold dropped to the lowest level since December. PT Internasional Nickel Indonesia tumbled, helping to send the country's stocks to their biggest decline in four months, after Citigroup slashed its price estimate.

The MSCI Asia Pacific Index fell 0.9 percent to 127.47 as of 7:21 p.m. in Tokyo, extending this year's decline to 19 percent. Almost two stocks declined for each one that rose.

``It's possible that you'll see more earnings downgrades,'' said Nicole Sze, a Singapore-based investment analyst at Bank Julius Baer & Co., which manages $350 billion in assets. ``In the past, you had commodity-related stocks supporting the market but even that has now gone away.''

Japan's Nikkei 225 Stock Average dropped 1 percent to 13,303.60. The country's wholesale inflation rate accelerated to a 27-year high as companies raised prices to offset oil and commodity costs.

All Asian benchmark indexes retreated apart from Australia and Vietnam. Indonesia's Jakarta Composite Index tumbled 3.4 percent, the region's biggest decline. China's CSI 300 Index dropped for a fourth day. Air China Ltd. led airlines lower on concern a weaker yuan will inflate dollar-denominated debts. Thailand is shut for a holiday today.

U.S. Futures

U.S. stocks climbed yesterday, with the Standard & Poor's 500 Index gaining 0.9 percent, after oil's drop below $115 a barrel boosted retailers and credit card companies. S&P futures slipped 0.2 percent.

SingTel slumped 1.7 percent to S$3.52. First-quarter profit fell 5.3 percent to S$878.1 million ($622 million) as a stronger currency eroded overseas earnings, and missed the S$902 million median of analyst estimates in a Bloomberg survey.

China Mobile fell 4.6 percent to HK$94.50. Citigroup lowered its share-price estimate to HK$120 from HK$150, citing ``regulatory headwinds'' and increased competition.

Newcrest, Australia's biggest gold producer, fell 3.1 percent to A$23.49. Sumitomo Metal Mining Co., Japan's biggest nickel maker, declined 3.1 percent to 1,289 yen. Internasional Nickel, Indonesia's biggest nickel producer, lost 7.7 percent to 3,575 rupiah. Citigroup cut the company's target price by 43 percent on declining profit and higher costs.

Metals Decline

Gold dropped 4.2 percent to $828.30, the lowest since Dec. 24. A measure of six metals traded on the London Metal Exchange, including copper and zinc, slid 1 percent yesterday.

Raw-material producers on MSCI's Asian gauge have tumbled 12 percent this month, compared with a 3.5 percent decline on the broader index.

JFE Holdings Inc., Japan's No. 2 steelmaker, slumped 6.1 percent to 4,480 yen. Nippon Steel Corp., the world's second- biggest producer of the alloy, declined 4.6 percent to 516 yen.

The Japan Iron and Steel Federation said yesterday June orders for steel fell 0.8 percent from the previous month.

Chinese airlines slumped on concern slowing inflation will prompt the government to limit yuan gains to help exporters. A weaker local currency inflates the value of dollar-denominated debts when converted into yuan.

China Southern

China Southern Airlines Co., the largest in China, dropped 3.1 percent to 5.90 yuan, capping a four-day, 24 percent decline. China Southern made a full-year currency gain of 2.83 billion yuan last year, exceeding its net income. Air China, the country's largest international carrier, tumbled 8.2 percent to 7.18 yuan in Shanghai.

Cathay Pacific Airways Ltd., Hong Kong's biggest carrier, jumped 7.4 percent to HK$15.04, its best performance since Sept. 21, after saying it will cut flights to North America and add more services to Australia to offset higher fuel costs. Cathay posted its first half-year loss since 2003 last week.

Nippon Sheet Glass Co. climbed 6.6 percent to 483 yen. Asia's second-largest glassmaker reported a 17 percent slide in operating profit yesterday as energy costs increased and sales dropped in North America and Japan. The company's results were better than anticipated, Shinya Yamada, an analyst at Credit Suisse Group said in a note to clients.

To contact the reporter for this story: Patrick Rial in Tokyo at prial@bloomberg.net; Chen Shiyin in Singapore at schen37@bloomberg.net.

Last Updated: August 12, 2008 06:27 EDT