Asian Mining Stocks Fall on Metals Prices

Asian mining stocks declined, led by BHP Billiton Ltd., after copper and zinc prices fell.

Lower earnings caused Nippon Electric Glass Co. to plunge the most in two decades, while Nomura Holdings Inc. posted the biggest jump in six years after it said net income rose fourfold. Hyundai Motor Co. rose for an eighth straight day on speculation its will today report a profit that exceeds analyst estimates.

``Bigger mining companies are essentially proxies to the metal prices, which can be very volatile,'' said Mark Tan, who helps oversee about $3 billion in Asian equities at UOB Asset Management in Singapore. ``There's bound to be some misses, but generally, the broad trend for Asian corporate earnings is positive.''

A measure of materials companies such as BHP was the biggest drag among 10 industry groups on the Morgan Stanley Capital International Asia Pacific Index, which slid 0.3 percent to 160.06 as of 12:25 p.m. in Tokyo. Moody's Investors Services raised its ratings for China and Hong Kong, helping drive benchmarks in those markets to records.

The Nikkei 225 Stock Average fell 0.3 percent to 17,811.86 and Australia's S&P/ASX 200 Index dropped 1 percent, the region's biggest loser. Taiwan, Singapore and Indonesia were the region's only other markets to decline.

U.S. stocks climbed yesterday on the back of higher oil prices and better-than-expected earnings from Amazon.com Inc., the world's biggest online retailer, and Boeing Co., the second- largest commercial-jet maker.

Taking a Hit

BHP, the world's biggest mining company, slid 0.6 percent to A$37.84, while Rio Tinto Group, the third largest, dropped 2 percent to A$95.30. Sumitomo Metal Mining Co., Japan's No. 2 copper smelter and biggest nickel producer, fell 2.3 percent to 3,030 yen.

A measure of six metals traded on the London Metal Exchange, including copper and nickel, lost 2.4 percent yesterday, the biggest decline in six weeks. Copper slipped 2.3 percent, nickel declined 2.5 percent and zinc fell 2.6 percent.

``With the metals prices down as they were we expected BHP and Rio to take a hit today,'' said Michael Birch, who helps manage $133 million at Wallace Funds Management in Sydney.

Nippon Electric Glass plunged 15 percent to 1,950 yen, headed for its biggest drop since October 1987. First-quarter net income fell 44 percent, partly because of higher fuel costs, the company said yesterday.

Advantest Corp., the world's biggest maker of memory-chip testing equipment, dropped 5.4 percent to 4,910 yen, the lowest since November 2005. Net income for the three months ended June 30 fell 13 percent from a year earlier as makers of memory chips for personal computers and consumer electronics reined in expansion amid a glut, the company said.

Nomura, Nintendo

Shares of Nomura, Japan's largest securities firm, surged 9.4 percent to 2,320 yen, the most since August 2001. Net income almost quadrupled to 76.7 billion yen ($638 million) in the three months ended June 30, beating the 42.5 billion yen average estimate among four analysts surveyed by Bloomberg News.

Nintendo jumped 6.3 percent to a record 60,400 yen after the maker of the best-selling Wii video-game console raised its net income forecast for this fiscal year by 41 percent to 245 billion yen. Honda, Japan's No. 2 automaker, said profit this year will probably be a record 625 billion yen, 8.7 percent higher than its previous forecast. The stock rose 1.8 percent to 4,470 yen.

Hyundai, South Korea's biggest automaker, rose 2.4 percent to 82,200 won. The company will probably say second-quarter net income jumped 30 percent from a year earlier to 502 billion won ($548 million), according to analysts surveyed by Bloomberg.

``Investors seem to believe Hyundai's profit will exceed market expectations,'' said Song Sang Hoon, an analyst at Hungkuk Securities Co. in Seoul.

Record Highs

China's CSI 300 Index gained 0.3 percent, adding to a four- day, 12 percent jump. The nation's long-term foreign-currency rating was raised to A1, the fifth-highest ranking, from A2, the ratings company said in a statement today.

Citic Securities Co., the country's biggest publicly traded brokerage, jumped 4 percent to 66.20 yuan. UBS AG rated the stock ``buy'' in new coverage and forecast the stock will reach 93 yuan.

Moody's also raised its rating for Hong Kong, helping lift the Hang Seng Index by 0.6 percent. The city's shares also climbed after China said it will allow the nation's insurers to invest up to $48 billion of their assets in overseas stocks and bonds.

The Hong Kong-listed shares of China Life Insurance Co., the nation's biggest insurer, jumped 3.7 percent to HK$33.95. Ping An Insurance (Group) Co., the second largest, rose 3.3 percent to HK$68.

Oil Shares Gain

Crude oil for September delivery yesterday jumped 3.2 percent to $75.88 a barrel in New York, the biggest increase since May 17, after a report showed U.S. oil inventories fell for a third week and gasoline demand was near a one-year high. The contract recently traded at $76.17.

PetroChina Co., the nation's biggest oil explorer, gained 1.5 percent to HK$12.28. Inpex Holdings Inc., Japan's largest explorer, climbed 2.5 percent to 1.25 million yen. Santos Ltd., Australia's No.3 oil producer, rose 1.2 percent to A$13.94.

Singapore Petroleum Co., the island-state's only publicly traded refiner and explorer, jumped 5.3 percent to a record $6.95. Profit last quarter climbed 32 percent from a year earlier to S$179.2 million ($119 million), the company said yesterday.