Asian stocks rose, sending the regional equity benchmark to its biggest gain in five days, as reports from China, Japan and Australia showed the economic recovery is strengthening.
Fanuc Ltd. in Tokyo and Anhui Conch Cement Co. in Hong Kong gained at least 2.3 percent after Japanese machinery orders rose more than expected and the Chinese government said it will promote sales of construction material in rural areas. Hynix Semiconductor Inc., the world’s second-largest maker of computer memory chips, advanced 3.5 percent as Intel Corp. predicted fourth-quarter sales that beat analysts’ estimates. Chinese banks in Hong Kong gained after data showed lending last month unexpectedly increased.
The MSCI Asia Pacific Index rose 0.6 percent to 129.50 as of 7:28 p.m. in Tokyo, with all 10 industry groups increasing. About two stocks advanced for each that fell on the nearly 1,000-member gauge. The measure has advanced 2.4 percent this month on speculation central banks around the world will increase efforts to boost economic growth.
“The Asian market is determined by the stability of China’s economy and the data seems to suggest that China’s economy in the fourth quarter will be stable, so the outlook overall for Asia is pretty good,” said Steve Tse, a Hong Kong- based research manager at BEA Union Investment Management, which oversees $4.5 billion.
Hong Kong Advances
The S&P/ASX 200 Index gained as much as 0.8 percent in Sydney after Australian consumer confidence rebounded in October, according to a Westpac Banking Corp. and Melbourne Institute survey today.
Japan’s Nikkei 225 Stock Average climbed 0.2 percent while the broader Topix index declined 0.2 percent toward the end of the trading session as pessimism over Japan’s domestic economic outlook overshadowed gains by exporters on expectations the U.S. Federal Reserve will act to shore up the economy.
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index rose 1.5 percent to the highest level since June 2008 as China’s central bank showed the country’s banks extended 595.5 billion yuan ($89 billion) of new loans last month. The gauge fell by as much as 0.4 percent earlier, led by developers, after Chief Executive Donald Tsang said the city would act to make housing more affordable.
Futures on the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index climbed 0.5 percent. The U.S. equity benchmark rose 0.4 percent to 1,169.77 yesterday after minutes of the Federal Reserve’s meeting last month showed the central bank was prepared to buy more government debt to stabilize the recovery.
Machinery Orders
“If the Fed takes more steps to spur the U.S. economy, it will also boost the export-driven Asian economy and markets in the region,” said Michiya Tomita, a Hong Kong-based fund manager at Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co., which oversees $65 billion globally.
Fanuc, Japan’s No. 1 maker of industrial robots, gained 2.3 percent to 11,010 yen. Komatsu Ltd., a maker of heavy machinery, climbed 0.9 percent to 1,909 yen.
Japanese machinery orders rose 10.1 percent from July, the largest increase since December, the Cabinet Office said today in Tokyo. The median forecast of 28 economists surveyed by Bloomberg News was for a 3.9 percent decline. The data is an indicator of business investment in three to six months.
Anhui Conch Cement, a Chinese maker of construction materials, rallied 7.8 percent to HK$36.50 in Hong Kong. China National Building Material Co., a producer of fiberglass and dry wall, jumped 10 percent to HK$19.92.
China Exports
China will start trials of a program to promote sales of construction materials in rural areas, the Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development said in a statement on its website yesterday. The trials, focusing on cement, are taking place in the provinces of Shandong and Ningxia, according to a statement dated Sept. 29 and posted to its website today.
Exports in China, the world’s fastest growing major economy, rose 25.1 percent from a year earlier and imports climbed 24.1 percent, the customs bureau said on its website today.
Hynix increased 3.5 percent to 23,400 won in Seoul and Advanced Semiconductor Engineering Inc. rose 3.3 percent to NT$24.75 in Taipei. Tokyo Electron Ltd., the world’s No. 2 semiconductor-equipment maker, gained 1.3 percent to 4,550 yen.
Intel, the world’s biggest chipmaker, said revenue for the fourth quarter will be $11.4 billion, plus or minus $400 million. Corporations and households in less developed markets bought more computers, helping the company weather slumping demand among consumers in the U.S. and Europe, Intel Chief Financial Officer Stacy Smith said in an interview.
‘Sustainable Rally’
Hon Hai Precision Industry Co., the world’s largest contract maker of electronics, gained 1.3 percent to NT$114.50 in Taiwan. The Commercial Times reported that the company raised manufacturing prices from this month for its largest clients including Apple Inc., Nokia Oyj, Microsoft Corp. and Sony Ericsson Mobile Communications AB.
The MSCI Asia Pacific Index has risen 7.5 percent this year on speculation growth in profit will weather Europe’s debt crisis, Chinese steps to curb property-price inflation and concern about the pace of the U.S. economic rebound. Stocks in the gauge trade at 14.2 times estimated profit on average, compared with 13.9 times for the S&P 500 and 12 times for the Stoxx Europe 600 Index.
Chinese banks rose in Hong Kong today after the People’s Bank of China said new local-currency lending was 595.5 billion yuan last month. That compared with the median 500 billion yuan forecast in a Bloomberg News survey of 18 economists.
Industrial & Commercial Bank of China Ltd., the nation’s biggest lender, rose 2 percent to HK$6.05. China Construction Bank Corp., the country’s second-largest bank, advanced 2.6 percent to HK$7.17. Bank of China Ltd., the nation’s fourth- largest bank by assets, increased 2.6 percent to HK$4.36.
“The growth in the Chinese lending data helped boost sentiment in the banks,” said Derrick Tan, a sales trader at Citic Securities Hong Kong Co. “The rally in Hong Kong looks sustainable even with the index above 23,000 due to prospects of further quantitative easing.”
Source: www.bloomberg.com
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