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By Bloomberg

Asian stocks fell the most in seven weeks, extending a global selloff after crude oil plunged to the lowest level since 2009. The yen rose and a measure of government bond yields slid to a record as investors sought haven assets.

The MSCI Asia Pacific Index sank 1.8 percent by 3 p.m. in Tokyo. Standard & Poor’s 500 Index futures were little changed after the gauge had its lowest close since Dec. 17. The yen gained a second day and Japan’s 10-year bond yield fell to a record. Oil in New York was at $50.22 a barrel after tumbling 5 percent yesterday. A measure of bond risk in Asia climbed the most in three weeks after a newspaper reported that a Malaysian state investment company failed to repay a loan on time.

Oil’s rout has turned energy companies into the biggest losers of a global retreat that wiped out $1 trillion of equity value already this year. The prospect of Greece exiting the euro area is also looming over markets, while data on the region’s consumer prices tomorrow is likely to stoke speculation over whether Europe will embark on full-scale government bond buying. China is accelerating infrastructure projects as economic growth threatens to slip below 7 percent.

“2015 is barely three trading days old and already the two biggest themes that were predicted to affect the markets this year are making headlines: oversupply of commodities and the euro zone,” Evan Lucas, a markets strategist in Melbourne at IG Ltd., wrote in an e-mail to clients. “The fundamentals of oil are unlikely to change in the first half of this year, which will see oil bedding down into its bear market for months to come.”

Stocks, Oil

The effective yield of bonds in the Bank of America Merrill Lynch Global Broad Market Sovereign Plus Index fell to 1.28 percent on Monday, the lowest level on record for a gauge that was started in 1996. MSCI’s All-Country World Index declined for a fifth trading day, losing 0.3 percent after a 1.9 percent slump last session, its steepest one-day retreat since June 2013.

Benchmark stock indexes fell across Asia, led by a 2.9 percent retreat in Japan’s Topix index. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index lost 1.4 percent and South Korea’s Kospi gauge dropped 1.7 percent, its biggest decline in a year. Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 Index slid 1.6 percent as BHP Billiton Ltd., the nation’s largest oil and gas producer, slumped 4.7 percent.

West Texas Intermediate crude rose 0.4 percent today after sinking as much as 5.5 percent last session to $49.77 a barrel, the first time it has breached $50 since 2009.

Inventories in the U.S., the world’s biggest oil consumer, probably rose by 750,000 barrels last week, according to a Bloomberg survey of analysts ahead of government data. The highest U.S. crude output in 30 years is fueling the global glut that drove oil into a bear market last year. OPEC’s refusal to cut production is also contributing to declines.

China Boost

Gold for immediate delivery advanced as much as 0.3 percent to $1,208.29 an ounce, climbing for a third day in its longest winning streak since October. The yen strengthened 0.6 percent as the Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index, which tracks the greenback against 10 major peers, dropped 0.3 percent.

Australia’s dollar advanced 0.7 percent after data showed the country’s trade deficit was A$925 million ($750 million) in November, narrower than economists projected. The Aussie extended gains and the yuan climbed 0.16 percent after China was said to have brought forward work this year on infrastructure projects valued at 7 trillion yuan ($1.1 trillion).

Record Yields

Yields on Australia’s government bonds due in a decade slid as much as six basis points, or 0.06 percentage point, to 2.70 percent, matching a record low. Rates on similar-maturity Treasuries fell for a seventh day, declining two basis points to 2.01 percent. Japan’s 10-year yield dropped as much as three basis points to 0.29 percent.

“There’s a load of things that continue to keep the bid in bonds,” said John Gorman, head of dollar interest-rate trading for Asia-Pacific at Nomura Holdings Inc. in Tokyo. “We have expectations for the ECB. We have oil continuing to drop, which is disinflationary. We have asset allocation; people thinking that stocks are too rich.”

The Markit iTraxx Asia index of credit-default swaps climbed five basis points to 115, according to ANZ prices. Contracts protecting Malaysia’s sovereign debt increased 10 basis points to 125 basis points, according to RBS prices.

The yield on 1Malaysia Development Bhd.’s dollar bonds due 2023 surged 47 basis points to a three-month high of 5.02 percent after a newspaper reported that the state investment company failed to repay a 2 billion ringgit ($563 million) loan due on Dec. 31. The company has been given until Jan. 30 to settle the debt, which was first due on Nov. 30, the Edge Financial Daily reported, citing people it didn’t identify.