Most Asian stocks fell, putting the MSCI Asia Pacific Index on course for its second week of declines, as economists Nouriel Roubini and Robert Shiller warned of a prolonged economic slowdown. Mining companies, gained as copper and oil prices climbed in New York.

Leaders of the world's biggest developed and emerging nations avoided a debate over the dollar's role in the global economy as they agreed not to devalue their currencies to promote their exports.

With officials from Brazil, India, China and Russia pushing consideration of alternative reserve currencies, their joint statement's language on foreign exchange echoed an agreement at an April summit of the Group of 20.

The leaders agreed to "refrain from competitive devaluations of our currencies," according to the statement released after their meeting today at the G? 8 summit in L'Aquila, Italy. They also agreed to "promote a stable and well? functioning international monetary system."

India's five? year bonds gained for a second day as doubts over a global economic recovery dragged equities lower, bolstering demand for the relative safety of government debt. Yields on the 6.07 percent note due May 2014 dropped one basis point to 6.37 percent at the
5:30 p. m. close in Mumbai, according to the central bank's trading system. The spread between one? and 10? year bond yields in India widened to a record 3.01 percentage points yesterday, data compiled by Bloomberg show, suggesting long? dated bonds are less in demand as the government increases sales of such securities.

China's foreign? exchange reserves probably topped $2 trillion for the first time, drawing attention to the difficulty the government faces in finding places to invest the world's largest holdings.

The reserves climbed $67.8 billion to $2.022 trillion as of June 30 from three months earlier, according to the median estimate of six economists surveyed by Bloomberg News. That would compare with a $7.7 billion gain in the previous quarter. The central bank may release the number today or next week, based on the timing of previous announcements