ASIAN stocks rose yesterday, sending the region's benchmark index to a seven-week high, on speculation the worst of credit-market losses at banks has passed and earnings at machinery makers will climb.
Bloomberg News reported that National Australia Bank Ltd jumped the most in a month, and Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group Inc advanced to a three-month high after Citigroup Inc posted a narrower loss than analysts' most pessimistic estimates.
Komatsu Ltd climbed to its highest this year after larger rival Caterpillar Inc's profit beat estimates. Honda Motor Co led gains by car makers after the yen fell to the lowest in almost two months against the dollar.
"We have seen better-than-expected earnings from some of the larger companies and Citigroup's results have helped to give a leg up to the market," said Nicole Sze, a Singapore-based investment analyst at Bank Julius Baer & Co, which manages US$350 billion in assets worldwide. "The market is more ready for good news than bad news."
The MSCI Asia Pacific Index gained 2.9 percent to 148.53 in Tokyo, the highest since February 28, and all 10 of its industry groups advanced. The index has rallied 12 percent from a two-month low on March 17 after JPMorgan Chase & Co rescued Bear Stearns Cos and the Federal Reserve cut borrowing costs to shore up confidence in the financial system.
Japan's Nikkei 225 Stock Average added 1.6 percent to 13,696.55, and most Asian benchmarks rose. In the US, Standard & Poor's 500 Index futures expiring in June climbed 0.2 percent. NEC Corp, Japan's largest personal-computer maker, led gains among technology companies, after reporting full-year profit that topped its own forecast. China Mobile Ltd, which has more users than the US population, jumped on speculation of it recording a higher profit.
Financial shares accounted for more than a quarter of the advance by MSCI's Asian index. National Australia, the nation's largest bank by assets, gained 6.2 percent to A$29.45 (US$ 27.67) in Sydney, its steepest climb in a month. Mitsubishi UFJ, Japan's biggest bank by market value, rallied 3.5 percent to 1,045 yen, the highest since January 9.
Revenue fall
Citigroup reported a first-quarter net loss of US$1.02 a share, less than the US$1.66 loss predicted by Merrill Lynch & Co's Guy Moszkowski, Institutional Investor's top-rated brokerage analyst.
Revenue fell 48 percent to US$13.2 billion, topping the average estimate of US$11.1 billion from analysts surveyed by Bloomberg.
"Citi's earnings confirmed that global financial companies have more or less completed disclosing their losses related to subprime mortgages," said Hideo Arimura, who helps oversee the equivalent of US$26 billion at Mizuho Asset Management Co in Tokyo.
Komatsu, the world's No. 2 maker of construction machinery, added 7 percent to 2,995 yen (US$28.96) in Tokyo, the highest since December 28.
Hitachi Construction Machinery Co, the world's largest maker of giant excavators, advanced 5.6 percent to 2,930 yen. Kubota Corp, which manufactures mini excavators and tractors, surged 7.1 percent to 720 yen.
Caterpillar, the world's biggest maker of earthmoving machinery, rose the most since 2000 in New York on April 18 after announcing first-quarter profit added 13 percent and reaffirming its forecast for gains of as much as 15 percent this year.
NEC advanced 7.3 percent to 468 yen after revealing that its full-year operating profit rose 15 percent more than its forecast.