Asian Stocks Rise on Japan Jobless Data, US GDP; Rio Advances
Oct. 30 (Bloomberg) -- Asian stocks advanced, paring theMSCI Asia Pacific Index’s first monthly decline since February,as Japan’s jobless rate unexpectedly dropped and the U.S.economy grew faster than economists expected.
Sony Corp., which makes the PlayStation game console,gained 3 percent in Tokyo. Komatsu Ltd., the world’s second-biggest maker of construction equipment, advanced 3.3 percent,even after its first-half net income plunged. Rio Tinto Group,the world’s third-biggest mining company, rose 4 percent inSydney as commodity prices increased.
The MSCI Asia Pacific Index added 1.1 percent to 115.97 asof 10:51 a.m. in Tokyo, paring its drop this week to 3 percent.The gauge has lost 1.7 percent in October on concern governmentswill start withdrawing measures enacted to revive global growth.Australia this month became the first Group of 20 nation toraise interest rates amid signs of strength in its economy.
“There’s a sigh of relief,” said Tim Schroeders, whohelps manage $1 billion at Pengana Capital Ltd. in Melbourne.“The Japan data gives credence to the breadth of the recovery,that it’s not just occurring in the developing economies, andthat’s very important for the sustainability of it.”
Japan’s Nikkei 225 Stock Average rose 1.2 percent. Theunemployment rate declined to 5.3 percent from 5.5 percent inAugust, the statistics bureau said today in Tokyo. The medianestimate of 29 economists surveyed by Bloomberg was for the rateto increase to 5.6 percent.
U.S. Growth
South Korea’s Kospi Index added 0.5 percent. Australia’sS&P/ASX 200 Index increased 1.3 percent, while New Zealand’s NZX50 Index gained 0.5 percent.
Futures on the S&P 500 lost 0.2 percent. The gauge jumped2.3 percent yesterday, the largest advance since July 23, as theU.S. government said gross domestic product grew at a 3.5percent pace from July through September. The growth, whichfollowed four quarters of contraction, topped the medianestimate of 3.2 percent in a Bloomberg survey of economists.
Sony gained 3 percent to 2,790 yen on hopes the weaker yenwill raise the value of sales generated overseas in local termsfor Japanese companies. The yen depreciated to 91.58, comparedwith 90.39 against the dollar at the close of stock trading inTokyo yesterday. Against the euro, Japan’s currency weakened to135.92 from 133.14.
“I see many positive surprises and many companies arelikely to raise profit forecasts,” said Juichi Wako, a seniorstrategist at Tokyo-based Nomura Holdings Inc. “A gradualrecovery will continue in the October-December period.”
Oil, Metals
Panasonic Corp., Japan’s biggest maker of home appliances,added 1.9 percent to 1,278 yen. Komatsu advanced 3.3 percent to1,803 yen.
The MSCI Asia Pacific Index has climbed 64 percent from amore than five-year low on March 9, outpacing gains of more than50 percent by the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index and Europe’s DowJones Stoxx 600 Index. Stocks in the MSCI index are valued at 22times estimated earnings, compared with 17 times for the S&P and15 times for the Stoxx 600.
Rio Tinto Group, the world’s third- biggest mining company,rose 4 percent to A$63.40. BHP Billiton Ltd., the world’slargest mining company, gained 0.9 percent to A$37.48.
Raw-material producers accounted for 20 percent of the MSCIAsia Pacific Index’s advance today. The London Metals Index, ameasure of six metals including copper and zinc, rallied 3.5percent, the largest advance in three weeks. Crude oil climbed3.1 percent to $79.87 a barrel in New York yesterday.
Nintendo Co., the world’s largest maker of video-gameplayers, fell 2.4 percent to 23,470 yen after slashing its full-year net income forecast on slumping sales of its Wii console.
Net income will fall to 230 billion yen ($2.5 billion) inthe year to March 2010, the company said. The projected profit,the first annual drop in six years, missed the 270 billion yenmedian of 23 analyst estimates compiled by Bloomberg.
To contact the reporters for this story:Shani Raja in Sydney at sraja4@bloomberg.net.
Last Updated: October 29, 2009 21:52 EDTSource: Bloomberg
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