The Progress from Asian stocks

Asian stocks rose for a second day, led by technology shares and commodity producers, after LG Electronics Inc. reported better-than-expected earnings and metals prices climbed.

LG, Asia's No. 2 mobile-phone maker, jumped the most in six months. BHP Billiton, the world's largest miner, gained after copper prices climbed the most in a month.

``LG Electronics showed us good earnings, chip prices are on the rise, and we're heading into the high-demand season,'' said Yang Jeung Won, who oversees $6.6 billion at Samsung Investment Trust Management Co. in Seoul. ``Resource stocks will show a firm upward trend as prices rise along with the recovery in global economies.''

The Morgan Stanley Capital International Asia Pacific Index added 0.6 percent to 159.61 at 11:44 a.m. in Tokyo, extending yesterday's 0.6 percent increase. Eight of its 10 industry groups advanced. South Korea's Kospi index climbed 1.5 percent. All markets open for trading rose.

Japan's Nikkei 225 Stock Average gained 0.4 percent. JFE Holdings Inc. led steelmakers higher on speculation they will report higher earnings for the quarter ended June. Honda Motor Co. gained after U.S. earnings reports damped concern a housing slump is eroding demand in the world's biggest economy.

Technology stocks in the U.S. yesterday rallied on earnings from International Business Machines Corp., sending the Standard & Poor's 500 Index to a record and the Dow Jones Industrial Average over 14,000 for the first time.

Samsung Electronics

LG jumped 4.5 percent to 77,100 won, set for its largest advance since January 2. Kyobo Securities Co. lifted its recommendation to ``buy,'' from ``neutral,'' according to a report. The brokerage and Daewoo Securities Co. both increased their share-price estimates.

LG yesterday reported second-quarter net income was 384.6 billion won ($420 million), compared with a loss of 9.7 billion won a year earlier. That beat the 248 billion won forecast by analysts in a Bloomberg News analyst survey.

Samsung Electronics Co., the world's third-largest mobile- phone maker, gained 2.4 percent to 651,000 won. Hon Hai Precision Industry Co., Taiwan's biggest electronics company by sales, rose 3.1 percent to NT$285.

A measure of technology-related stocks on MSCI's Asian benchmark rose 0.9 percent. It gained 0.4 percent yesterday after IBM's second-quarter earnings eased concern that industry profitability might decline.

`Plus For Resources'

IBM, the world's biggest computer-services company, and Seagate Technology, the world's largest maker of computer disk drives, both reported sales for the period that beat analyst estimates. IBM also raised its earnings forecast for this year.

Melbourne-based BHP added 1.7 percent to A$38.31. Rio Tinto Group, the world's third-biggest mining company, gained 2.4 percent to A$99.75. Sumitomo Metal Mining Co., Japan's biggest nickel producer, jumped 4.7 percent to 3,130 yen.

Copper futures in New York yesterday rose 2.8 percent. A measure of six metals including copper, nickel and zinc traded on the London Metal Exchange gained 2.1 percent. Both measures posted their biggest gains since June 11.

``Metals are responding to China's growth and speculation in the sector about takeovers so that's a plus for resources stocks,'' said Hans Kunnen, who helps manage $10 billion at Colonial First State Global Asset Management in Sydney.

Japanese Steelmakers

Korea Zinc Co., the world's second-biggest zinc smelter, climbed 4.9 percent to 203,500 won. The Seoul-based company said profit gained 7.5 percent from the previous year, beating some analysts' estimates, on higher metal prices and increased processing fees.

JFE, Japan's second-largest steelmaker, climbed 3.6 percent to 8,750 yen. Nippon Steel Corp., JFE's bigger rival, gained 2.7 percent to 946 yen. The Topix Iron & Steel Index has climbed 8.1 percent since Posco, Asia's No. 3 producer, on July 16 reported a 55 percent increase in second-quarter profit that was more than some analysts expected.

JFE, which reports first-quarter earnings on July 30, forecasts first-half net income will climb 12 percent on a 13 percent increase in sales.

Exporters rose on speculation their earnings will beat analyst estimates for the second quarter, as 60 percent of the 121 Standard & Poor's 500 companies to report so far have done.

Honda, which had 55 percent of its sales in North America last business year, rose 1.8 percent to 4,550 yen. Canon Inc., the world's largest maker of digital cameras, climbed 1.8 percent to 7,200 yen.

``Steelmakers were up because of strong investor expectation that Japanese makers will report good results just as Posco did,'' said Naoki Fujiwara, who helps oversee $3.24 billion in investments at Shinkin Asset Management Co. in Tokyo. ``Earnings in the U.S. confirmed its economy has stable growth.''

source:bloomberg.com