April 27 (Bloomberg) -- Asian stocks dropped after a report showed that consumer confidence in the U.S., the world's largest economy, fell to a five-month low. Exporters such as Nissan Motor Co. and Samsung Electronics Co. declined.

Honda Motor Co. and NEC Electronics Corp. slipped in Japan after forecasting profit declines. Almost 30 percent of Japan's 500 biggest companies by market value report earnings this week.

``Everyone is concerned about the U.S. economy and weakness in consumer spending,'' said Koji Uchida, who helps manage $17 billion at UFJ Partners Asset Management Co. in Tokyo. ``Companies don't seem to have the courage to predict earnings growth will pick up.'' He favors companies that rely on domestic demand.

The Morgan Stanley Capital International Asia-Pacific Index, which tracks 945 stocks, dropped 0.5 percent to 96.99 at 3:20 p.m. in Tokyo. Eight of the 10 industry groups comprising the benchmark fell. Other regional markets also declined, except in New Zealand, Malaysia, Thailand and Indonesia.

Japan's Nikkei 225 Stock Average fell 0.3 percent to 11,005.42, while the Kospi index lost 1.5 percent in South Korea.

The Philippines fell 1.5 percent to a one-week low, after Senate Ways and Means Chairman Ralph Recto said Congress will not meet a deadline to raise taxes aimed at cutting the deficit. Ayala Corp. and Globe Telecom Inc. dropped.

Amcor Ltd. led declines in Australia after the company said raw material costs increased.

Nissan, Samsung

The Conference Board's index of consumer sentiment in the U.S. dropped to 97.7 in April, its lowest since November. That raised concern demand for Asia's goods may wane. The U.S. is the largest market for Asian products. The report also pushed down U.S. stocks. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index and the Dow Jones Industrial Average each fell 0.9 percent.

Nissan, Japan's No. 2 automaker, lost 0.5 percent to 1,048 yen. The company made two-thirds of its sales outside Japan in 2004. Fuji Photo Film Co., the world's second-largest maker of camera film, fell 0.6 percent to 3,470 yen. The company made almost a fifth of its sales in the U.S. last year.

Samsung Electronics, South Korea's largest exporter, declined 1.5 percent to 464,000 won. The company earned 83 percent of sales abroad in 2004. LG Electronics Inc., which generated 79 percent of its revenue from overseas last year, slid 0.6 percent to 67,800 won.

The U.S. economy probably cooled in the first quarter as record gasoline prices made consumers less willing to spend. A government report due tomorrow may show that first-quarter gross domestic product grew at a 3.5 percent annual rate, according to the median estimate of economists in a Bloomberg News survey. The economy grew 3.8 percent in the previous quarter.

Slumping Confidence

Indexes tracking computer-related and auto stocks accounted for almost half of the MSCI Asia-Pacific's decline today.

``Slumping consumer confidence has increased concern about the outlook for the U.S. economy,'' said Yutaka Miura, a manager at Shinko Securities Co. in Tokyo.

Chartered Semiconductor Manufacturing Ltd. lost 1.6 percent to 95.5 Singapore cents. The company, Singapore's biggest chipmaker, got about two-thirds of its 2004 sales from the U.S.

Earnings forecasts for this year from companies such as Honda also weighed on Japanese stocks. Honda, Japan's No. 3 carmaker, fell 1.4 percent to 5,120 yen. The company yesterday forecast an end to its four-year run of record profits on lower earnings from Asian affiliates and derivatives losses.

NEC Electronics, the world's largest maker of semiconductors for mobile-phone displays, slumped 3.7 percent to 4,920 yen. The company expects net income in the six months ending Sept. 30 to drop 97 percent to 500 million yen ($4.7 million) and 19 percent for the full year.

Disappointment

This week, Elpida Memory Inc., the world's fifth-largest memory-chip maker, forecast a loss of as much as 4 billion yen in the three months ending June 30. The company also expected full- year net income to increase 7 percent. Elpida, which rose 2.4 percent the day after reporting its results, fell 2.4 percent to 3,720 yen today.

``We knew that NEC Electronics will disappoint after what we saw from Elpida,'' said Hideaki Kurimoto, who helps manage about $2.8 billion at Meiji Dresdner Asset Management Co. in Tokyo. ``The selling is more of a knee-jerk reaction to the disappointing results yesterday.''

The Philippine Stock Exchange Composite Index fell to its lowest since April 18. Ayala Corp., the nation's biggest holding company by market value, fell 4.4 percent to 6.60 pesos. Globe Telecom, the No. 2 mobile-phone company and a unit of Ayala, fell 1.8 percent to 820 pesos.

Talks between the Senate and House of Representatives to reconcile their versions of the value-added tax bill may not resume this week because the government hasn't convinced senators to agree to raise the tax to 12 percent from 10, Recto said yesterday. Lawmakers said April 18 they would reach agreement on the changes by the end of the month.

Amcor, Baoshan

Amcor, which counts Atlanta-based Coca-Cola Co. among its customers, slumped 2.1 percent to A$6.69. The world's biggest maker of plastic soft-drinks bottles said it may not meet its profit growth target of 20 percent in the next two years because of surging raw material costs.

``Rising costs are going to be an increasing concern in the coming year, and it's going to show up in the earnings of quite a few companies,'' said Angus Gluskie, who helps oversee the equivalent of $468 million at White Funds Management in Sydney. ``Asia, with its abundance of manufacturing companies, will start to see the effects.''

Baoshan Iron & Steel Co., the listed unit of China's biggest steelmaker, plunged by the 10 percent daily limit to 5.42 yuan. The company raised 10.24 billion yuan ($1.2 billion) selling 2 billion new shares at 5.12 yuan each to the public and institutional investors. That boosted concern the value of existing equity in the company will decline.

To contact the reporter on this story: Darren Boey in Hong Kong at dboey@bloomberg.net; Michael Tsang in Tokyo at mtsang1@bloomberg.net.

Last Updated: April 27, 2005 02:33 EDT