TOKYO, Aug 5 — Asian stocks fell, with the benchmark regional index on course for its first loss in three days, as the yen’s gain weighed on Japanese exporters and US jobs data missed estimates.

Mazda Motor Corp., an automaker that gets 30 per cent of its sales in North America, dropped 3.6 per cent in Tokyo. Fonterra Shareholders Fund tumbled 5.9 per cent in Wellington after China halted imports of milk powders from Fonterra Cooperative Group after the company warned of a contaminated ingredient.

The MSCI Asia Pacific Index fell 0.6 per cent to 134.77 as of 9:49am Tokyo time, before markets in China and Hong Kong open. More than two stocks dropped for each that rose on the measure.

“Japan is still very choppy for me, to be honest,” Chris Weston, chief market strategist at IG Markets Ltd. in Melbourne, said by telephone. The US payrolls figures “weren’t significantly weak enough to say we’re definitively putting tapering off the table, but didn’t certainly suggest there’s rampant recovery going on in the jobs market.

There’s a recovery, but it’s not enough to suspend the bond-buying programme.”

The MSCI Asia Pacific Index advanced 1.3 per cent last month after China pledged to do more to support a transition from reliance on exports to domestic demand in the world’s second- largest economy. Shares on the gauge traded at 13.2 times estimated earnings as of August 2, compared with 15.5 times for the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index and 13.8 times for the Stoxx Europe 600 Index.

Regional measures

Japan’s Topix index lost 1.1 per cent after the yen gained 0.6 per cent on August 2. A stronger yen cuts the value of overseas earnings at Japanese companies. South Korea’s Kospi Index was little changed. New Zealand’s NZX 50 Index gained 0.1 per cent, while Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 fell 0.3 per cent.

US employers added 162,000 workers to payrolls in July, the least in four months and below a median economist estimate of 185,000, data August 2 showed. An index of China’s non- manufacturing sectors rose for the first time since March, a report August 3 showed, before HSBC Holdings Plc and Markit Economics’ China services gauge due today.

The People’s Bank of China will appropriately fine-tune policies and strike a balance between stable growth, structural adjustment, reform and risk prevention, according to a statement after a meeting of chiefs of central bank branches posted on the PBOC’s website August 4.

Hong Kong

Japan’s Topix index climbed 39 per cent this year through August 2 amid optimism Prime Minister Shinzo Abe will push through reforms while the Bank of Japan continues record stimulus to beat deflation.

Futures on Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index rose 0.5 per cent. The measure fell 2.1 per cent this year through August 2, the worst performance among developed markets tracked by Bloomberg. Futures on the Hang Seng China Enterprises Index of mainland companies added 0.6 per cent.

Futures on the S&P 500 index slipped 0.1 per cent after the measure advanced 1.1 per cent last week, its biggest gain in three weeks, as central banks vowed to maintain stimulus and data showed economic growth beat projections in the second quarter.

Of the 285 companies on the MSCI Asia Pacific Index that have posted results since July 1 and for which estimates are available, 51 per cent exceeded estimates, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. — Bloomberg