Asian stocks rose to a record, with the Nikkei 225 Stock Average surpassing 18,000 for the first time in six years after the Governor of the Bank of Japan said interest rates will be kept low.
Mitsubishi Estate Co., Japan's biggest developer, and Seven & I Holdings Co., its largest retailer, gained on speculation low rates will encourage spending. Toyota Motor Corp. and Canon Inc. advanced after the central bank's comments, a day after raising rates to 0.5 percent, helped weaken the yen against the dollar and euro, boosting the value of overseas sales.
``The fact that we could confirm that interest rate increases will not be consecutive eased concern over the currency trend and pushed exporter stocks higher,'' said Masayuki Kubota, who oversees $2.1 billion in assets at Daiwa SB Investments Ltd. in Tokyo.
China Mobile Ltd. led gains in Hong Kong, where the Hang Seng Index was set for its longest winning streak in three months. Tattersall's Ltd. and Oxiana Ltd. paced Australian stocks higher after posting profit increases that beat analyst forecasts.
The Morgan Stanley Capital International Asia-Pacific Index added 0.6 percent to 147.29 as of 1:57 p.m. in Tokyo. Japan's Nikkei 225 Stock Average climbed 0.8 percent to 18,062.61, poised to close above 18,000 for the first time since May 8, 2000. South Korea's Kospi index climbed 1.2 percent.
Other markets open for trading rose, except in Malaysia, Indonesia, the Philippines and New Zealand. They are closed in China and Taiwan for the Lunar New Year holiday.
Yen, Canon
Mitsubishi Estate rose 2.7 percent to 3,790 yen. Seven & I gained 1.6 percent to 3,910 yen. Low interest rates may benefit property developers and retailers by encouraging house buying and consumer spending.
Toyota, Japan's biggest automaker, climbed 0.6 percent to 8,230 yen. Canon, the world's largest digital-camera maker, rose 1.4 percent to 6,560 yen. Sony Corp., the second-largest consumer electronics maker, gained 0.6 percent to 6,380 yen.
Japan's currency touched an all-time low of 159.04 against the euro in New York and weakened to 121.19 per dollar, approaching the four-year low of 122.19 on Jan. 29. The yen recently traded at 121.02 per dollar and 158.84 against the euro.
A weaker yen means Japanese exporters get more for their sales outside Japan when they are converted back to local currency while their products become more competitive. Canon made 75 percent of its sales outside Japan last business year.
Supporting Growth
The Bank of Japan raised its benchmark interest rate to 0.5 percent yesterday from 0.25 percent.
``For the time being, we will maintain an accommodative monetary environment by holding interest rates as low as possible to support economic growth,'' central bank Governor Toshihiko Fukui said in parliament today.
Exporters were also boosted after Japan reported an unexpected trade surplus for January after exports of cars and consumer electronics climbed and lower oil prices reduced the nation's import bill. The surplus was 4.4 billion yen ($36 million), compared with a deficit of 353.5 billion yen the same month a year earlier, the Ministry of Finance said in Tokyo today.
China Mobile, the world's largest mobile-phone operator by users, added 2.7 percent to HK$79.20 in Hong Kong. The company said it gained 4.86 million users in January, taking its total to 306.1 million.
Good Earnings
Tattersall's, Australia's second-largest gaming company, jumped 5.3 percent to A$4.41. The company said first-half profit rose 54 percent to A$107.7 million ($85.2 million) on its acquisition of Unitab Ltd. and increased betting on horse racing.
Earnings were expected to rise to A$103.7 million, according to the median estimate of three analysts surveyed by Bloomberg News.
Oxiana, the fastest-growing of Australia's 10-largest mining companies, climbed 4 percent to A$2.89. The company said second- half profit surged more than fivefold to a record A$290 million after it added copper and zinc output as metal prices surged. That compares with the A$283.3 million expected by analysts surveyed by Bloomberg.
``Overall earnings have been at the top end of expectations,'' said Eric Betts, a strategist at Nomura Australia Ltd. in Sydney. ``Positive surprises are outnumbering negative surprises.''
source:www.bloomberg.com
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment