Asian Stocks Samsung Slides on

Sept. 17 (Bloomberg) -- Asian stocks fell for the first time in five days, led by Samsung Electronics Co. and Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co., after chip prices declined and the U.S. Justice Department began investigating makers of flash memory over possible antitrust violations.

``Investors hadn't been expecting a probe,'' said Lee Young Seog, who helps manage about $750 million at Korea Investment Trust Management Co. in Seoul. ``Prices had been falling to begin with, so this extra news is souring sentiment on Samsung.''

BHP Billiton Ltd. slid after crude oil prices dropped from a record. National Australia Bank Ltd. fell after the Australian newspaper said the lender may buy Northern Rock Plc. Sun Hung Kai Properties Ltd. led Hong Kong's developers lower on concern last week's rally more than reflected the outlook for property demand.

The Morgan Stanley Capital International Asia-Pacific excluding Japan Index slid 0.5 percent to 487.33 as of 11:56 a.m. in Hong Kong, ending a four-day, 3.1 percent advance. A measure of technology shares was the biggest loser among 10 industry groups.

South Korea's Kospi index slid 0.7 percent, while Taiwan's Taiex dropped 1.5 percent, the region's biggest loss. Benchmarks also retreated in Australia, Hong Kong, Thailand, Singapore and Malaysia. Japan's markets are closed today for a holiday.

The CSI 300 Index climbed 0.9 percent in China, where the central bank on Sept. 15 raised interest rates for the fifth time since March.

In the U.S., the Standard & Poor's 500 Index dropped 0.2 percent on Sept. 14 on growing concern that bank earnings will be reduced by mortgage-market losses and a slowing economy. Merrill Lynch & Co., the third-biggest U.S. securities firm, slid after saying ``significant risk remains'' to the value of investments.

Antitrust Probe

Samsung, the world's biggest maker of NAND flash-memory chips, lost 1.6 percent to 547,000 won, poised for its lowest close since May 31. The company is cooperating with a criminal probe by the U.S. Justice Department for possible price fixing of the chips that store pictures and songs in cameras and music players, it said on Sept. 14.

The department confirmed it is investigating ``anti- competitive practices'' in the industry. It has already spent more than three years on an antitrust probe of makers of another type of memory chip, known as DRAM, charging four companies and 13 people, and levying fines of $731 million.

Separately, Hyundai Securities Co. cut its rating on Samsung to ``marketperform,'' from ``buy,'' in a report citing declines in prices of dynamic random access memory, or DRAM, and NAND.

Taiwan Semiconductor, the world's biggest maker of customized chips, slid 1.1 percent to N$61.10. Powerchip Semiconductor Corp., Taiwan's biggest computer-memory chipmaker, dropped 1.3 percent to NT$15.50.

Hynix Semiconductor Inc., the world's third-largest NAND maker, gained 0.8 percent to 30,650 won in South Korea. It hasn't received notice of an antitrust probe, the company said today.

BHP, PTT

BHP, the world's largest mining company and Australia's biggest oil producer, dropped 1.6 percent to A$38.76. Woodside Petroleum Ltd., Australia's No. 2 explorer, lost 0.6 percent to A$46.52. PTT Pcl, Thailand's largest oil company, fell 2.5 percent to 316 baht.

Crude oil for October delivery fell 1.2 percent on Sept. 14 to $79.10 a barrel in New York, its first decline in 10 days. Futures, which closed above $80 for the first time the previous day, were recently at $78.59 in after-hours trading.

``The fall in oil prices has taken the gloss off some of the producing companies,'' said Eric Betts, head of research at Nomura Australia Ltd. in Sydney. ``We've seen some profit-taking because the price got so high.''

Oil Search Jumps

Losses by energy shares were limited after the South China Morning Post said China National Petroleum Corp. and Petrochina Co. Ltd. may bid for Oil Search Ltd.

Oil Search, Papua New Guinea's biggest oil producer, jumped 11 percent to A$4.27 in Australia. CNPC Exploration, a venture between China National Petroleum and PetroChina, is considering bidding as much as $5 billion for Oil Search, the newspaper said.

The company hasn't had a ``formal approach'' from CNPC and has held ``informal discussions'' with other companies seeking to take an equity stake, said Ann Diamant, a Sydney-based spokeswoman at Oil Search. None of the talks with CNPC involved a potential bid, she said.

PetroChina, Asia's biggest oil company by market value, gained 1 percent to HK$11.68 in Hong Kong.

Property Retreats

National Australia Bank, the nation's biggest, lost 1.2 percent to A$38.52. The bank may buy Northern Rock, the U.K. home- loan lender that sought emergency funding from the Bank of England last week, the Australian newspaper said, citing analysts. National Australia declined to comment on ``market speculation,'' the newspaper said, citing an unidentified spokesman.

Hong Kong's Hang Seng Property Index slid 2.5 percent. It rallied 12 percent last week amid speculation the U.S. Federal Reserve would cut its key interest rate this week, prompting the Hong Kong Monetary Authority to follow suit. Movements in Hong Kong's rates track U.S. credit policy because the local currency is linked to the dollar.

Sun Hung Kai Properties, Hong Kong's largest developer by market value, slid 3.5 percent to HK$116.80. The stock jumped 14 percent last week. Cheung Kong (Holdings) Ltd., the city's second- biggest developer, dropped 1.9 percent to HK$125.40. It gained 12 percent the previous three days.

Meanwhile, shares of China Vanke Co., the country's largest publicly traded real-estate developer, lost 2.3 percent to 31.20 yuan. Financial Street Holding Co., a property developer in Beijing, slipped 2.9 percent to 34.92 yuan.

China raised interest rates for the fifth time since March to curb the fastest inflation since 1996. The benchmark one-year lending rate increased to a nine-year high of 7.29 percent from 7.02 percent, effective Sept. 15, the central bank said a day earlier. The one-year deposit rate rose to 3.87 percent from 3.6 percent.