The release of the minutes from the FOMC’s last meeting in late October drove Asian stocks down for a third day in a row and caused the China manufacturing gauge to slip more than expected on speculation that Quantitative Easing will be reduced “in coming months.”

With the prospect of stimulus tapering lessening demand of safe-haven assets, metal prices took a hit with Perseus (AS51) leading the decline of gold miners as it recorded a 10-percent drop. The producer of baby-care products Prince Frog International Holdings Ltd. dove 20 percent in Hong Kong, after it resumed trading following a suspension when a short-seller put the company’s accounting under scrutiny. The Japanese auto-maker Honda Motor Co. rose 3.4 percent as the yen fell, as over 80 percent of its business comes from abroad.

The Asian indices also recorded overall declines with the MSCI Asia Pacific Index falling 0.6 percent to 141.38 as of 2:38 p.m. in Hong Kong as only one of its ten industry drop avoided a slide. At the exclusion of the Japan Index which saw the Topic (TPX) gain 1 percent, the MSCI Asia Pacific Index fell 1.2 percent.

Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index lost 0.4 percent, while the Hang Seng China Enterprises Index of mainland companies listed in Hong Kong fell 0.9 percent. China’s Shanghai Composite Index dropped 0.5 percent. China’s factory activity showed signs of decline in November to 50.4 form 50.9 in October in a preliminary gauge by the HSBC Holdings Plc and Markit Economics.