Nikkei: 8,348.27 (-26.64) Hang Seng: 18,225.85 (-265.38) Shanghai Comp: 2,415.13 (-1.43)ASIAN STOCKS fell for a fifth day, the longest streak in almost four months, amid concern economic growth in Asia is slowing and US lawmakers may fail to agree on measures to cut the nation's budget deficit.

In Hong Kong, Longfor Properties, the developer controlled by China’s richest woman, Wu Yajun, tumbled 5.4 per cent to HK$7.89.

In Japan, Osaka Securities Exchange climbed 1.8 per cent to 421,000 yen. The company and the Tokyo Stock Exchange, Japan’s two largest bourses, agreed to merge and are set to announce the deal tomorrow, the Nikkei newspaper reported. Olympus rose by its daily limit, gaining 16 per cent to 725 yen. Nippon Life Insurance, Japan’s biggest life insurer and a shareholder in Olympus, will continue to support the optics maker after it admitted hiding losses.

Advantest, the world’s biggest maker of memory-chip testers, lost 4.5 per cent to 810 yen. Japan’s October chip-equipment orders declined 33 per cent from a year ago to 81.2 billion yen ($1 billion), according to a November 18th statement from the Semiconductor Equipment Association of Japan. – (Bloomberg)