Asian Stocks Decline for a Third Day as Global Rout Continues (Patrick Rial)

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June 23 (Bloomberg) -- Asian stocks slumped for a third day, extending a global rout, as a rebound in oil prices stoked concern economic growth will slow and the continuing fallout from the collapse in credit markets dragged financial companies lower.

Posco, Asia's third-largest steelmaker, declined to the lowest in six weeks in Seoul. Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group Inc., Japan's biggest lender by value, dropped for a fifth day.

{xtypo_quote_left} Toyota Motor Corp., the world's largest automaker by value, led a drop by automakers, falling 2.6 percent to 5,270 yen. Denso Corp., Japan's largest auto-parts maker, slid 3.1 percent to 3,770 yen. Hyundai Motor Co., South Korea's largest automaker, fell 2.2 percent to 765,000 won. {/xtypo_quote_left}

``The resurgence of risks related to the credit crunch is the most important factor in the market,'' Tomochika Kitaoka, a Tokyo- based strategist at Mizuho Securities Co., said in an interview with Bloomberg Television.

The MSCI Asia Pacific Index lost 1.1 percent to 138.53 as of 9:40 a.m. in Tokyo, the lowest since March 24. Japan's Nikkei 225 Stock Average fell 1.7 percent to 13,707.13. Indexes also declined in Australia, South Korea and New Zealand.