Asian stocks fell for a second day, paring this week’s gain, as sales at Samsung Electronics Co. missed analysts’ estimates and interest-rate cuts in Europe and China failed to boost confidence in the global economy.

Nikkei 225 9,020.75 -59.05 -0.65%

S&P/ASX 200 4,157.81 -11.39 -0.27%

Shanghai Composite 2,223.58 +22.23 +1.01%

Canon Inc., a Japanese camera maker that gets 31 percent of its sales in Europe, slid 2.5 percent.

Australian miner BHP Billiton Ltd., whose biggest market is China, fell 1 percent as investors sold shares of companies with earnings tied to economic growth.

Agricultural Bank of China Ltd. led a slide among Chinese banks, dropping 2.8 percent.

Parco Co. climbed 2.5 percent in Tokyo after J Front Retailing Co. said it will buy a majority stake in the rival department-store operator.