SINGAPORE (Bloomberg) -- Asian stocks fell for the first time in seven days, led by property developers and insurers, on concern this month's rise in bond yields will curb earnings growth.

Mitsubishi Estate Co. and Millea Holdings Inc., Japan's biggest property and casualty insurer, declined, derailing a rally that had lifted the Morgan Stanley Capital International Asia-Pacific Index to a record. China's CSI 300 Index slumped 3.5 percent, the biggest loss among the region's benchmarks, on speculation the central bank will increase interest rates. “Higher bond yields have made it difficult for investors to buy property-related and insurance stocks,” said Katsunori Hirai, who helps oversee $20 billion at Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. in Tokyo. “Higher rates increase operating costs for developers and push down the value of the assets insurers hold.” Korea Exchange Bank dropped the most in six weeks after its largest shareholder sold a stake. Caltex Australia Ltd., the nation's biggest oil refiner, tumbled after the company forecast earnings that missed some analyst estimates. Semiconductor stocks rose, led by Nanya Technology Corp., after prices of memory chips climbed to their highest in almost two months. Financial shares, which include developers and insurers, were the second-biggest drag on the MSCI index, which slipped 0.6 percent to 153.54 as of 7:41 p.m. in Tokyo. The measure has risen 1.3 percent this week, the most since the five days ended June 1. Eight benchmarks, including those in China, South Korea, Australia, and Indonesia touched records this week. Japan's Nikkei 225 Stock Average slid 0.3 percent after Thursday reaching its highest since May 2000. Toyota Motor Corp. paced a drop by automakers after they failed to block a Senate agreement to raise U.S. fuel economy standards for new vehicles. Measures fell in markets across the region, except in Hong Kong and Malaysia, whose key indexes rose to a new high. -------------- Rising yields U.S. shares rebounded Thursday, lifting the Standard & Poor's 500 Index by 0.6 percent, after the latest government report on the economy showed growth is accelerating. Mitsubishi Estate, Japan's second-biggest real-estate group, dropped 3.9 percent to 3,410 yen. Mitsui Fudosan Co., the largest, slipped 3 percent to 3,530 yen. Millea Holdings lost 3.7 percent to 5,010 yen. The MSCI Asia-Pacific Financials Index slid 1.1 percent. The yield on Japan's 10-year benchmark bond has risen 0.15 percentage point to 1.895 percent this month. The yield on the five-year bond climbed to a record 1.605 percent on June 13, the highest since the government started selling the securities in February 2000. The yield on the U.S. 10-year note has climbed about half a percentage point since May 4, suggesting that investors aren't expecting the Federal Reserve to cut borrowing costs soon. ------------------ Adjusting forecasts “Investors have been expecting rates to come down later this year, but the U.S. economic numbers keep coming out stronger than expected,” said Lim Kok Boon, Chief Investment Officer of Fortis Private Banking Singapore, which manages $9.5 billion in Asia. “That's causing investors to re-adjust their forecasts.” Also in Japan, Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group Inc. fell after Macquarie Securities cut its rating on the country's biggest bank to “neutral” from “outperform,” saying there was “limited upside” from its current stock price. The shares slid 1.4 percent to 1.38 million yen. China's shares slumped in the afternoon session on concern over the central bank will raise borrowing costs over the weekend. Industrial & Commercial Bank of China Ltd., the nation's biggest listed lender, fell 2.1 percent to 5.04 yuan. China Vanke Co., the largest listed property developer, slid 2.8 percent to 19.66 yuan. ---------------- Friday slump Inflation accelerated to 3.4 percent last month, a two-year high, according to the statistic bureau. The People's Bank of China has raised borrowing costs twice this year to rein in industrial expansion and tame inflation. Both announcements were made over weekends. “It's Friday,” said Sun Chao, an analyst at Citic Securities Co. in Shanghai. “People are always worried that the government may announce some negative news over the weekend, such as interest-rate hikes.” Korea Exchange lost 3.4 percent to 14,100 won, the lowest since June 15. Lone Star Funds sold 87.7 million shares at 13,600 won each, according to a document from Credit Suisse Group, the sale arranger. The price is a 6.8 percent discount to Thursday's close of 14,600 won. Kookmin Bank, South Korea's largest lender by assets which had planned to buy Korea Exchange before Lone Star shelved the deal last year, dropped 4 percent to 84,500 won. “Korea Exchange shares had been boosted by the M&A premium, so if a takeover runs into snags the prices will come down again,” said Park Hyoung Ryol, who manages about $110 million at Consus Asset Management Co. in Seoul. ----------------- Earnings Shares of Caltex Australia slumped 10 percent to A$25.10, completing their biggest drop since September 2001. The stock was the largest percentage decliner on the MSCI World Index. Operating profit may rise as much as 46 percent to A$255 million ($216 million) in the six months ending June 30, Sydney-based Caltex said Friday in a statement. Market consensus was for earnings of about A$240 million to A$260 million, said Aiden Bradley, an energy analyst at ABN Amro Australia Ltd. Yue Yuen Industrial Ltd., the biggest maker of athletic shoes for Nike Inc. and Adidas, lost 4.6 percent to HK$24.15 in Hong Kong. The company said profit in the first half rose to $169.6 million from $168.3 million a year earlier. Credit Suisse Group lowered its share-price estimate on the stock to HK$17.40 from HK$19, citing concerns including “depressing” gross margin and “disappointment from the further decline in contributions from associates and joint ventures.” ---------------- Memory chips Nanya, Taiwan's second-largest memory-chip maker, climbed 2.5 percent to NT$30.55. Advantest Corp., the world's biggest maker of memory-chip testing equipment, jumped 3.6 percent to 5,490 yen. Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corp., China's largest chipmaker, rose 4.7 percent to HK$1.12 in Hong Kong. The price for the benchmark 512-megabit dynamic random access memory chip, or DRAM, gained 4.1 percent to $2.30 Thursday after jumping 17 percent on June 20, according to Dramexchange.com, Asia's biggest spot market for chips. That surge was a record gain, according to data dating back to August 2005