Asian stocks (MXAP) gained for a second day, with a benchmark index poised for the biggest gain in almost three weeks, after U.S. housing starts rose more than economists forecast and payrolls increased in most states.
Honda Motor Co. (7267), Japan’s second-largest carmaker by market value that gets about 44 percent of its sales from North America, advanced 2.1 percent in Tokyo on speculation shipments will rise amid signs the U.S. economy is improving. Onesteel Ltd., the second-worst performer in the MSCI Asia-Pacific index this year, jumped 7.1 percent after Goldman Sachs Group Inc. named it among top Australian stock picks for next year. Mining and energy stocks gained as oil and copper prices climbed.
“The U.S. is showing it’s fairly robust in terms of not being dragged down to the extent of European economies, but there remain significant structural impediments,” said Tim Schroeders, who helps manage $1 billion in equities at Pengana Capital Ltd. in Melbourne. “There will be significant gains today. The question is, given we are coming into a holiday period, how sustainable those gains are going to be over the next week or so.”
The MSCI Asia Pacific Index advanced 1.8 percent to 112.93 as of 11 a.m. in Tokyo, with 11 shares rising for each that fell. The gauge dropped to a three-week low on Dec. 19 after North Korean leader Kim Jong Il died and Fitch Ratings said it may cut the credit ratings of European nations.
Japan’s Nikkei 225 Stock Average (NKY) increased 1.4 percent, while South Korea’s Kospi Index jumped 2.8 percent. Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 rose 2.1 percent. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index gained 1.7 percent.
U.S. Recovery
Futures on the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index (SPX) were little changed today. The index advanced 3 percent in New York yesterday after a report showed builders broke ground in November on 685,000 houses, the most since April 2010.
Shares of Asian exporters advanced as U.S. payrolls increased in 29 states in November, while the jobless rate declined in 43, a sign the labor market is recovering across much of the world’s biggest economy.
Stocks also gained as concern about Europe’s debt crisis eased after Spain sold 5.64 billion euros ($7.38 billion) of bills, more than the maximum target, and German business confidence unexpectedly grew.
The MSCI Asia Pacific Index slumped 19 percent this year year through yesterday. Utilities were the worst performing industry in the gauge as Japan’s nuclear-power producers tumbled after the worst nuclear accident in 25 years engulfed Tokyo Electric Power Co.’s Fukushima Dai-Ichi plant. Tepco, as the utility is known, is the worst performer on the gauge, followed by OneSteel, Australia’s second-biggest producer of the metal.
The Asia-Pacific Index’s drop compared with a 1.3 percent fall by the S&P 500 and a 14 percent loss by the Stoxx Europe 600 Index. Stocks in the Asian benchmark are valued at 12.4 times estimated earnings on average, compared with 12.6 times for the S&P 500 and 10.4 times for the Stoxx 600.
(source: Bloomberg)
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21/12/2011 03:08:32 PM | 