June 28 (Bloomberg) -- Asian stocks rebounded from a two- week low, led by energy producers and Japanese exporters, after crude oil prices advanced and the yen halted a three-day climb.
Cnooc Ltd., China's largest offshore explorer, gained for the first time in six days. Toyota Motor Corp. advanced after Goldman, Sachs & Co. and Nomura Securities Co. said a weaker yen will boost automakers' profits.
LG.Philips LCD Co. rose after Woori Investment & Securities Co. lifted its share price estimate. Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. gained after Oracle Corp. predicted higher sales than analysts forecast.
``I don't think Asia needs to worry too much about earnings,'' said Hugh Young, who oversees $35 billion as managing director at Aberdeen Asset Asia Ltd. in Singapore.
Energy shares posted the biggest gains on the Morgan Stanley Capital International Asia-Pacific Index. The measure climbed 0.6 percent to 151.77 at 5:30 p.m. in Tokyo, after yesterday posting its lowest close since June 14.
China's CSI 300 Index plunged 4.5 percent, the region's biggest drop. Japan's Nikkei 225 Stock Average added 0.5 percent to 17,932.27, halting a four-day, 2.1 percent loss. Benchmarks rose elsewhere in Asia, except for Indonesia, Malaysia and New Zealand.
HSBC Holdings Plc climbed in Hong Kong after the chief executive of Merrill Lynch & Co. said he sees few risks of widespread turmoil in credit markets as a result of rising defaults on U.S. subprime mortgages.
Oil Price
U.S. stocks rose yesterday for the first time in four days, helping the Standard & Poor's 500 Index climb 0.9 percent.
Cnooc jumped 4.1 percent to HK$8.81, snapping a five-day, 7.3 percent slump. PetroChina Co., the nation's largest oil explorer, climbed 2.5 percent to HK$11.62. Woodside Petroleum Ltd., Australia's second-largest producer, added 3 percent to A$45.75, while BHP Billiton Ltd., the largest, rose 2 percent to A$34.89.
Crude oil for August delivery gained 1.8 percent yesterday to $68.97 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange and was recently at $69.11. Futures dropped 2 percent on June 26, the biggest loss in more than two weeks.
``We were due for some relief'' after recent losses, said Atul Lele, who helps manage about $380 million at White Funds Management in Sydney. ``Oil stocks are the clear winners from oil's jump yesterday, which is being sustained.''
Weaker Yen
Toyota, Japan's largest automaker, added 0.9 percent to 7,620 yen, its biggest advance since June 15. Goldman Sachs raised its rating on the stock to ``buy'' from ``neutral,'' while Nomura raised its rating on the industry to ``bullish'' from ``neutral.''
Japan's currency weakened to as low as 123.36 per dollar from 122.67 at yesterday's close of trading in Tokyo. The yen rose the most in 10 weeks against the dollar yesterday, completing three days of gains. Against the euro, it fell to 165.97 from 164.83 yesterday.
Honda Motor Co., Japan's No. 2 automaker by sales, climbed 2.1 percent to 4,420 yen, the most since June 11. Nissan Motor Co., the third biggest, added 1.4 percent to 1,301 yen. The shares also advanced after a report today said vehicle output in Japan by the country's 12 automakers rose 6.3 percent in May.
Nintendo Co., whose Wii game console is outselling rivals in the U.S., jumped 2.2 percent to 45,050 yen.
The yen has lost 4.3 percent against the dollar since the start of Japan's financial year in April, the worst performance among the 73 currencies tracked by Bloomberg, and 5.1 percent versus the euro. Most companies expected the currency to climb to about 114 per dollar this year, according to the Bank of Japan's latest Tankan business confidence report.
Significant Impact
``The yen has caught some people by surprise by how weak it's been and most people don't see the yen bouncing back too much,'' said Tathagata Guha Roy, who helps manage $1 billion for Alliance Trust Plc in Hong Kong. ``It has been significant enough'' to impact exporters' earnings.
LG.Philips, the world's second-largest maker of liquid- crystal displays, added 1.4 percent to 41,000 won. Woori raised its 12-month price estimate by 6.3 percent to 51,000 won.
LG.Philips' second-quarter consolidated operating profit, or sales minus the cost of goods sold and administrative expenses, will be 190 billion won ($205 million), compared with the market consensus of 61 billion won, analyst Young Park wrote in a report.
Taiwan Semiconductor, the world's largest customized-chip maker for computer and communication companies, rose 1.3 percent to NT$70.40. Lenovo Group Ltd., China's No. 1 personal-computer maker, surged 5.6 percent to HK$4.69.
`Solid Outlook'
Oracle, the world's third-largest software maker, said sales may rise to as much as $4.43 billion in its fiscal first quarter. Analysts had expected sales of $4.11 billion, according to a Bloomberg survey.
``The Oracle news signals the solid outlook for the computer-related industry,'' said Charles Chen, who helps manage the equivalent of $3.7 billion at JF Asset Management Co. in Taipei.
Shares tumbled in China, sending the CSI 300 to its biggest drop since June 4. The China Financial Futures Exchange said today it will introduce futures based on the index, while the Ministry of Finance announced plans to raise 1.55 trillion yuan ($204 billion) selling bonds to fund the State Investment Co.
``Both these measures are bearish for the stock market as they tend to divert funds,'' said Wang Zheng, who manages the equivalent of $500 million at the asset management unit of Everbright Securities Co. in Shanghai.
About 40 stocks including Tianjin FAW Xiali Automobile Co. fell by the 10 percent daily cap on the CSI 300. Tianjin FAW, a Chinese partner of Toyota, slumped 0.93 yuan to 8.36. Huadian Power International Corp., a power producer in the eastern province of Shandong, plunged 0.81 yuan to 7.29.
`Containable'
HSBC, the world's third-largest bank by market value, gained 0.4 percent to HK$143.50. Two-thirds of HSBC's $10.6 billion in loan defaults last year were in North America.
Merrill Lynch Chief Executive Officer Stanley O'Neal said yesterday the rising foreclosure rates on U.S. subprime mortgages aren't sapping confidence in other parts of the global debt market.
Concern of subprime fallout ``will come and go,'' said Khiem Do, who helps oversee $8.7 billion at Baring Asset Management (Asia) Ltd. in Hong Kong. ``It's not the end of bad news. But it's definitely containable.''
Meanwhile, Hong Kong Exchanges & Clearing Ltd. jumped 2.2 percent to HK$108.90 on expectations a surge in share trading will boost profit at the operator of the city's stock market.
An average HK$75 billion ($9.6 billion) worth of shares changed hands in the past month, compared with HK$29 billion of daily turnover in the same period a year earlier. Shares of Hong Kong Exchanges were the best performers on the 39-member Hang Seng Index during the period.
0 comments:
Post a Comment