Asian Stocks Rise as Carmakers Advance, Canon Climbs; Oil Gains
April 13, 2011, 7:38 AM EDTBy Anna Kitanaka
April 13 (Bloomberg) -- Asian stocks advanced for the first time in three days as Japan’s carmakers climbed after Nomura Holdings Inc. said they were “oversold,” and oil prices arrested declines.
Honda Motor Co., Japan’s No. 2 automaker by market value, rose 3.3 percent. Canon Inc., the world’s biggest cameramaker, gained 2.1 percent, leading information technology stocks higher, after Deutsche Bank AG raised its investment rating on the stock. PetroChina Co., the nation’s No. 1 oil producer, reversed declines after oil futures rose for the first time in three days. Hyundai Motor Co. and Kia Motors Corp. rose in Seoul on speculation the South Korean carmakers will benefit as Toyota Motor Corp. faces supply constraints following Japan’s record earthquake and tsunami.
The MSCI Asia Pacific Index added 0.7 percent to 135.87 as of 8:33 p.m. in Tokyo, with more than twice as many stocks rising as falling. The measure swung between gains and losses at least nine times today.
“Some Japan shares have been oversold but we still need to accurately quantify the extent of the damage let alone the time frame and cost of repairing that damage,” said Tim Schroeders, a Melbourne-based money manager at Pengana Capital Ltd., which manages about $1 billion. “Energy prices do trade a lot on sentiment, and what we’ve seen is a moderation of growth, and the problem in essence has been that if energy prices do continue to rise, it’ll have a negative impact on growth.”
Regional Benchmarks
The Asia-Pacific measure has risen for three straight weeks as Japanese companies resumed production after last month’s earthquake, and as an improving U.S. economy bolstered optimism the global recovery can be sustained.
Japan’s Nikkei 225 Stock Average gained 0.9 percent today. Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 Index climbed 0.3 percent and New Zealand’s NZX 50 Index increased 0.2 percent. South Korea’s Kospi index advanced 1.6 percent.
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index rose 0.7 percent, while China’s Shanghai Stock Exchange Composite Index added 1 percent. Taiwan’s Taiex index increased 0.6 percent.
Futures on the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index gained 0.8 percent today. Yesterday, the measure fell 0.8 percent as Japan raised the severity rating of its nuclear crisis to the highest level, oil plunged and sales at Alcoa., the largest U.S. aluminum producer, missed estimates.
Carmakers Gain
Consumer discretionary stocks, including Japanese and South Korean carmakers, rose the most of the 10 industry groups on the MSCI Asia Pacific Index today.
Honda gained 3.3 percent to 2,957 yen and was the second- biggest support to the MSCI index today. Nissan Motor Co., Japan’s third-largest automaker, advanced 2.9 percent to 716 yen. Toyota Motor Corp., the world’s No. 1 carmaker, climbed 1.4 percent to 3,285 yen.
Nomura reiterated its “buy” rating on Honda, saying the stock was oversold because the company’s earnings are expected to recover sharply in the second-half of the year, ending in March 2012. The brokerage said Nissan’s earnings would also rebound after a record earthquake and tsunami on March 11 damaged supply chains and disrupted production.
Carmakers also rose after the Nikkei newspaper reported that Renesas Electronics Corp., which makes electric components such as semiconductors for automotives, will restart production at an earthquake damaged plant in Ibaraki prefecture in June, one month ahead of schedule. Renesas shares jumped 7.6 percent to 698 yen.
Renesas Production
“Renesas’s production halts for its semiconductors were proving to be a production bottleneck for the car industry,” said Yutaka Yoshii, a strategist at Tokyo-based Mito Securities Co. “Restarting production is great news for the whole car industry.”
Canon gained 2.1 percent to 3,635 yen in Tokyo, after Deutsche Bank raised its rating on the stock to “buy” from “hold” and boosted its price target to 5,180 yen from 4,230 yen. The stock was the biggest boost to the MSCI Asia Pacific Index’s subgroup for technology companies, which rose the second-most among the 10 industry groups on the gauge.
HTC Corp. rose 2.2 percent to NT$1,175 in Taipei after saying its Flyer tablet device will go on sale in Europe next month.
Some energy shares reversed earlier declines, with the MSCI Asia Pacific Energy Index climbing 0.2 percent after falling as much as 1.4 percent.
PetroChina advanced 0.5 percent to HK$11.80, reversing an earlier decline of as much as 2.4 percent. JX Holdings Inc., Japan’s No. 1 refiner, gained 1.7 percent to 535 yen, after falling as much as 1 percent earlier. S-Oil Corp., South Korea’s second-biggest energy company by market value, climbed 0.3 percent to 148,000 won, reversing an earlier decline of as much as 4.1 percent.
Energy Reverses
Oil rose for the first time in three days in New York on speculation that U.S. gasoline stockpiles are shrinking as the summer driving season approaches and Libya’s unrest worsens. Crude oil for May delivery rose as much as 0.7 percent today, retracing yesterday’s 3.3 percent plunge.
Hyundai Motor jumped 6.3 percent to 212,500 won, the highest level on record. KIA Motors gained 4.6 percent to 73,500 won, its highest level since March 1998. The carmakers gained after Toyota told U.S. dealers that assembly disruptions triggered by last month’s record earthquake and tsunami in Japan may thin supplies of vehicles into the third quarter, boosting speculation the South Korean carmakers will increase sales.
--With assistance from Akiko Ikeda and Toshiro Hasegawa in Tokyo. Editors: John McCluskey, Jason Clenfield.
To contact the reporter on this story: Anna Kitanaka in Tokyo at akitanaka@bloomberg.net.
To contact the editor responsible for this story: Nick Gentle at ngentle2@bloomberg.net.
