Asian Mining and Energy Stocks Rise on Rebound in Metals, Oil

June 12 (Bloomberg) -- Asian mining and energy stocks advanced after prices of metals and crude oil rebounded.

BHP Billiton Ltd. climbed to a record, leading advances on the Morgan Stanley Capital International Asia-Pacific Index. Millea Holdings Inc., Japan's biggest insurer, led the Nikkei 225 Stock Average lower on speculation recent gains have been excessive given their profit outlook.

``You're going to see upgrades to resource companies' earnings as analysts and investors get used to commodities at these levels,'' said Michael Birch, who helps manage $133 million at Wallace Funds Management in Sydney. ``The stocks aren't going anywhere but up over the longer term.''

China's CSI 300 Index fell after the National Bureau of Statistics announced that inflation accelerated in May, fueling speculation interest rates will rise.

The MSCI index was little changed at 150.69 as of 12:37 p.m. in Tokyo. The Nikkei 225 slid 0.5 percent after earlier rising as much as 0.2 percent. Other benchmarks in the region rose, except in Hong Kong and Thailand.

U.S. energy and financial shares yesterday rallied on prospects for higher earnings, lifting the Standard & Poor's 500 Index by 0.1 percent.

Rebound

BHP, the world's largest mining company, gained 1.8 percent to A$33.46. Rio Tinto Group, the third biggest, rose 1.5 percent to A$93.31. Sumitomo Metal Mining Co., Japan's No. 2 copper smelter and biggest nickel producer, added 0.6 percent to 2,690 yen.

A measure of six metals traded on the London Metal Exchange added 2.2 percent yesterday, rebounding from a four-day 6.7 percent slide. Copper climbed 3.1 percent, while zinc advanced 3.3 percent.

Crude oil yesterday gained 1.9 percent to settle at $65.97 a barrel in New York, the biggest jump in three weeks. It was recently at $65.82 in after-hours trading. The contract slipped 3.2 percent on June 8.

Mitsubishi Corp., Japan's largest trading company which generated 46 percent of its fiscal 2006 revenue from fuel and metals, rose 1.3 percent to 3,180 yen. Woodside Petroleum Ltd., Australia's second-largest oil explorer, climbed 0.7 percent to A$43.65. Inpex Holdings Inc., Japan's biggest, advanced 0.9 percent to 1.14 million yen. PetroChina Co., China's largest oil explorer, added 0.6 percent to HK$10.54 in Hong Kong.

``The rebound in commodities like gold and oil benefits the trading companies and other related shares,'' said Yutaka Miura, a market analyst at Shinko Securities Co. in Tokyo. ``Oil prices look like they still have some room to gain.''

`Locking in Profits'

Millea lost 2.2 percent to 5,330 yen. The stock has gained 10 percent so far this month. Mitsui Sumitomo Insurance Co., a casualty insurer, fell 4.5 percent to 1,618 yen, trimming its June gains to 6.5 percent.

The Topix Insurance Index has climbed 7.7 percent this month, the biggest advance among 33 industry groups. Its 14-day relative strength index, a moving average based on gains and declines, yesterday rose to 74. Readings of 70 or above indicate to some analysts that prices are poised to drop.

``The insurance industry had been doing extremely well,'' said Hideyuki Ookoshi, who oversees $365 million at Chiba-Gin Asset Management Co. in Tokyo. ``Now investors are locking in those profits.''

China Falls

China's CSI 300 lost 0.5 percent, reversing gains of as much as 1 percent. Consumer prices gained 3.4 percent in May from a year earlier, exceeding the median estimate of a 3.3 percent increase by 19 economists in a Bloomberg News survey.

China Vanke Co., the nation's largest publicly traded real- estate developer, lost 1.2 percent to 18.38 yuan. China Merchants Bank Co., the country's seventh-biggest lender, fell 2.3 percent to 21.30 yuan.

The central bank is ``closely'' watching rising food costs and will study the inflation data before any interest-rate change, Governor Zhou Xiaochuan said June 5. China will probably increase lending and deposit rates at least once more in 2007, a Bloomberg News survey showed. The benchmark one-year lending rate is 6.57 percent and the deposit rate is 3.06 percent after increases last month.

Toshiba, AU Optronics

Among technology stocks, Toshiba Corp. rose 1.1 percent to 953 yen. Japan's biggest chipmaker plans to boost flash-memory production capacity by 70 percent by June 2008 to gain a greater market share of chips used in PCs and mobile devices, Nikkei English News reported.

Rival Hynix Semiconductor Inc. dropped 1.9 percent to 31,400 won in South Korea. Samsung Electronics Co., Asia's largest chipmaker, slid 0.5 percent to 575,000 won.

Taiwan's AU Optronics Corp. and Innolux Display Corp. gained after the Economic Daily News reported they are developing touch- screen panels to try to lure orders from Apple Inc.

AU Optronics, the world's third-largest LCD maker, climbed 2 percent to NT$55.80. Innolux Display, the LCD monitor-making arm of Hon Hai Precision Industry Co., jumped 6.8 percent to NT$118. Hon Hai gained 3.1 percent to NT$263.50.

Elsewhere, China Agri-Industries Holdings Ltd., the bio-fuel unit of China's largest grain trader, tumbled 11 percent to HK$5.54, the biggest loser on the MSCI regional index.

China Agri said it has not received official notice that the Chinese government plans to ban projects that produce ethanol from grain crops. The company has not changed its business plan and will only discuss the effects of the policy changes on its business if it receives official documentation, it said yesterday.