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By Bloomberg

Asian stocks slumped, with the regional benchmark index heading for its longest losing streak in four months, as Chinese manufacturing gauges signaled contraction. Crude oil retreated and Australian bond yields slid to records.

The MSCI Asia Pacific Index lost 0.4 percent by 11:46 a.m. in Tokyo, as the Hang Seng China Enterprises Index declined 1.7 percent. Standard & Poor’s 500 Index futures rose 0.1 percent. China’s yuan approached the bottom of its trading band and the euro climbed. U.S. oil dropped 3.1 percent after surging at the end of last week. Australia’s 10-year bond yield fell five basis points to 2.40 percent before an interest-rate review tomorrow.

China’s official purchasing managers’ index unexpectedly fell below 50 for the first time since 2012, fueling speculation Asia’s largest economy will need to boost monetary stimulus amid sliding tax receipts. A private China factory report also came in lower than estimated, before similar gauges for India, Japan, the U.S. and Europe. Investors are betting Australia will cut rates tomorrow as slower-than-forecast U.S. growth and deeper- than-estimated euro-area deflation dim the world economic outlook.

“The global economy should benefit from cheaper oil, but we’re being hit with the negative effects first, and this will likely ripple in to weaker stock prices as well,” Shoji Hirakawa, chief equity strategist at Okasan Securities Co. in Tokyo, said by phone. The “U.S. gross domestic product reading will weigh on the stock market, which had been worried about slowing global economic growth since last year.”

Growth Concern

GDP in the U.S. rose an annualized 2.6 percent in the fourth quarter, missing the 3 percent growth pitched by economists and falling from 5 percent in the three months to the end of September. The euro-zone’s annual inflation rate fell to minus 0.6 percent, matching the biggest decline in prices in the history of the single currency, according to data published by Eurostat.

Seven of the 10 industry groups on the MSCI Asia Pacific Index retreated today. The Shanghai Composite Index dropped 1.8 percent and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index lost 0.4 percent.

China’s official Purchasing Managers’ Index fell to 49.8 last month from 50.1 in December, missing the median estimate of 50.2 in a Bloomberg survey of analysts and below the 50 level separating expansion and contraction. A similar gauge from HSBC Holdings Plc and Markit Economics slipped to 49.7 from an interim reading of 49.8. The slide follows the biggest weekly Shanghai stock-market drop in a year and fiscal data that showed the weakest revenue growth since 1991.

Minsheng Tumbles

China Minsheng Banking Corp., the country’s first privately owned bank, plunged as much as 10 percent in Hong Kong after President Mao Xiaofeng resigned amid media report that he is being investigated by Chinese authorities.

Japan’s Topix index fell 0.6 percent, paring declines as the yen traded little changed at 117.63 per dollar. The currency earlier touched its strongest level since Jan. 16. The Korean won lost 0.6 percent, extending last week’s 0.9 percent decline.

Skymark Airlines Inc., the Japanese carrier that filed for bankruptcy last week, plunged 82 percent as the Tokyo Stock Exchange scrapped price-change limits.

West Texas Intermediate crude fell to $46.75 a barrel, after climbing 8.3 percent Jan. 30, its biggest one-day gain since 2012. WTI retreated to $44.45 a barrel last week, its lowest settlement since March 11, 2009. Brent dropped 2.8 percent to $51.48 a barrel in London.

Gas Strike

U.S. petroleum workers began their largest strike since 1980 on Sunday after failing to reach agreement on a labor contract. The action is spurring concern that U.S. crude processing will be curtailed. Gasoline futures for March delivery slipped 1.8 percent in early trading after surging 6.3 percent on Friday.

The yuan slid 0.12 percent to 6.2596 per dollar, trading at a record 1.94 percent discount to the central bank’s reference rate, and nearing the limit of its trading band. The People’s Bank of China cut the reference rate by 0.02 percent to an eight-week low of 6.1385. The offshore yuan slid 0.3 percent to its weakest level in two years on Friday.

The 19-nation euro climbed to $1.1318 today, after new Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras promised to stick by the country’s financial obligations.