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QDec. 2 (Bloomberg) -- Hao Hong, global equity strategist at China International Capital Corp., talks about China stocks and central bank monetary policy. He speaks from Beijing with Susan Li on Bloomberg Television's "First Up." (Source: Bloomberg)
.Asian stocks rose, with the MSCI Asia Pacific Index set for its biggest weekly gain since August 2007, ahead of German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s speech to lawmakers on Europe’s debt crisis and after U.S. manufacturing expanded more than forecast.
DeNA Co., a social-network website operator, jumped 8.1 percent in Tokyo after Credit Suisse Group AG rated the shares “outperform” in new coverage. Japanese shares gained after Goldman Sachs Group Inc., Deutsche Bank AG and UBS AG said they’ll rebound. Billabong International Ltd. (BBG), a maker of surfwear that counts the Americas as its biggest market, rose 4 percent in Sydney. Belle International Holdings Ltd. (1880), a Chinese retailer of women’s shoes, sank 6.6 percent after an investor was said to have sold HK$1 billion ($129 million) of shares.
“The U.S. manufacturing data was taken positively, when pessimism on the global economy was weighing over investors’ minds,” said Tomomi Yamashita, a senior fund manager in Tokyo at Shinkin Asset Management Co., which oversees $6 billion. “It’s too early to be at ease about Europe’s debt crisis. At the moment, Europe is trying to stack up sandbags to prevent financial system turmoil from spilling over.”
The MSCI Asia Pacific Index rose 0.5 percent to 117.70 as of 7:36 p.m. in Tokyo, after falling as much as 0.4 percent. The Asia-Pacific gauge is headed for an 8 percent gain for the week, the biggest weekly gain since the period ended Aug. 24, 2007. All but one of the 10 industry groups on the measure rose, with almost twice as many stocks gaining as declining.
Japan Rebound?
Japan’s Nikkei 225 Stock Average (NKY) rose 0.5 percent, and the broader Topix Index gained 0.6 percent to 744.14. Goldman Sachs said the Topix is likely to rise to 800 by the end of 2012 as corporate profits rebound, while UBS said the gauge may rise to about 930 in the year ending March 2013. Deutsche Bank said signs of a recovery in the nation’s shares will likely emerge as early as March next year, buoyed by renewed confidence in the U.S. economy.
Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 index advanced 1.4 percent, capping its biggest weekly increase since November 2008. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index (HSI) rose 0.2 percent after dropping as much as 0.7 percent. China’s Shanghai Stock Exchange Composite Index slid 1.1 percent, while South Korea’s Kospi Index was little changed.
The MSCI Asia Pacific Index declined 15 percent this year through yesterday, compared with a 1 percent drop by the S&P 500 and a 14 percent slump by the Stoxx Europe 600 Index. Stocks (MXAPJ) in the Asian benchmark are valued at 12.9 times estimated earnings on average, compared with 12.6 times for the S&P 500 and 10.5 times for the Stoxx 600.
Exporters Gain
Gauges of volatility across the region fell to their lowest levels since July. The HSI Volatility Index plunged 23 percent this week to 27.7 in Hong Kong, suggesting options traders see a swing of 8 percent in the Hang Seng Index in the next 30 days. The Nikkei Stock Average Volatility Index dropped 20 percent to 23.42 and the Kospi 200 Volatility Index fell 18 percent this week.
Billabong rose 4 percent to A$3.86 in Sydney. James Hardie Industries SE (JHX), a building-materials supplier that gets more than half of its sales from the U.S., gained 1.6 percent to A$6.95. Toyota Motor Corp. (7203), the world’s biggest carmaker by market value, gained 1.1 percent to 2,594 yen.
Futures on the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index (SPXL1) rose 1.1 percent today. The Institute for Supply Management’s factory index increased to 52.7 last month from 50.8 in October, the Tempe, Arizona-based group said today. Readings above 50 indicate expansion, and economists surveyed by Bloomberg News projected a gain to 51.8. Construction spending climbed for a third month in October and jobless claims increased, other data showed.
Merkel Speech
“The U.S. economy isn’t as weak as investors feared,” said Kenji Sekiguchi, general manager at Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. “The focus has shifted temporarily away from Europe and toward the U.S., while investors wait for Europe to come up with policies.”
German Chancellor Angela Merkel, who will use a speech to lawmakers in Berlin today to outline her stance before a Dec. 9 European Union summit, has repeated her push to rework EU rules to lock in budget monitoring and seal off the European Central Bank from political pressure. French President Nicolas Sarkozy late yesterday called for “more discipline” and automatic penalties for nations that break fiscal rules.
DeNA surged 8.1 percent to 2,519 yen in Tokyo, its biggest gain since Oct. 5 after Credit Suisse began coverage on the shares and after JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its rating to “overweight” from “underweight.”
Belle Slides
Belle International sank 6.6 percent to HK$14.22 after people familiar with the transaction said an investor sold HK$1 billion ($129 million) of shares. The shareholder sold 70 million shares at HK$14.60 each, the high end of the proposed price range, said the people, who declined to be identified as the transaction is private.
Samsung Electronics Co., a smartphone maker, slumped 2.2 percent to 1,050,000 won in Seoul, the biggest drag on the MSCI Asia Pacific Index after Apple Inc. won a one-week extension of a ban on Samsung’s sales of its latest tablet computer in Australia, delaying pre-Christmas sales.
To contact the reporter on this story: Kana Nishizawa in Hong Kong at knishizawa5@bloomberg.net.
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