Asian stocks fell for a second day as Japanese financial firms declined and a slide in iron-ore prices weighed on Australian producers of the commodity. Shares in Seoul rebounded after a three-day retreat.

Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group Inc., Japan’s largest lender, dropped 2 percent, the heaviest drag on the regional index. Fortescue Metals Group Ltd., a miner reliant on iron ore for all its revenue, tumbled 8.5 percent. Rakuten Inc. surged 10 percent after profit at the operator of Japan’s biggest online mall topped estimates.

Two shares fell for each that gained on the MSCI Asia Pacific Index, which lost 0.6 percent to 140.18 as of 4:10 p.m. in Hong Kong. Japan’s Topix index declined from the highest level since June 2008, led by developers and utilities, amid speculation its recent rally was excessive. The measure advanced 7.3 percent over the previous three trading sessions as the Bank of Japan expanded stimulus and the nation’s pension fund said it will buy more stocks.

“I see a lot of caution coming into investor sentiment,” said Joshua Mahony, London-based research analyst at Alpari Ltd. “Markets took a moment to pause.”

Japan’s Topix slumped 1.1 percent. The gauge’s 14-day Relative Strength Index stood at 70 yesterday, according to data compiled by Bloomberg, a threshold some traders say indicates that shares have risen too fast.

Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index slid 0.2 percent. New Zealand’s NZX 50 Index was little changed. Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 Index slipped 0.2 percent as iron-ore producers slumped. South Korea’s Kospi index advanced 0.3 percent.

Iron Ore

Iron ore fell to the lowest level in more than five years as China ordered some mills to curb output to cut pollution before hosting a global summit, hurting demand in the biggest consumer of the commodity just as rising supplies exacerbate a glut.

Futures on the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index slipped 0.2 percent. The S&P 500 and the Dow Jones Industrial Average hit all-time highs yesterday as the Republican Party won control of the Senate and a rebound in oil fueled gains in energy shares.

Companies in the U.S. added 230,000 workers to payrolls in October, ADP Research Institute figures showed, beating the 220,000 increase projected by economists in a Bloomberg survey and up from a revised gain of 225,000 in September. The data came before a government report tomorrow that is forecast to show private payrolls rose by 223,000 last month. The jobless rate probably held at a six-year low of 5.9 percent.