Asian stocks jump on Japan's growth
Tuesday, 12 June 2007
TOKYO, June 11 (Bloomberg) -- Asian stocks gained for the first time in three days after Japan raised its first-quarter growth estimate for the region's biggest economy.
Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group Inc., Japan's largest bank, climbed on expectations stronger growth will boost profits for domestic businesses. Sony Corp. and Samsung Electronics Co. rose after a decline in US bond yields damped speculation that the Federal Reserve will raise interest rates in Asia's largest export market.
The forecast ``will relieve people's cautiousness toward the Japanese economy,'' said Soichiro Monji, who helps oversee about $47 billion at Daiwa SB Investments Ltd. in Tokyo. ``Stronger private consumption should favor the banking stocks.''
The Morgan Stanley Capital International Asia-Pacific Index climbed 0.3 per cent to 150.90 at 7:16 p.m. in Tokyo, as eight of the measure's 10 industry groups gained. Stocks fell last week on concern rising global interest rates will curb consumer spending and corporate profits.
Japan's Nikkei 225 Stock Average added 0.3 per cent to 17,834.48. Shares also gained after the yen weakened the most in six weeks against the dollar on June 8, increasing the value of exporters' dollar-denominated sales.
China's CSI 300 Index advanced for a fifth day after an unexpected slowdown in producer-price inflation helped damp speculation interest rates will increase. Taiwanese stocks rose after Citigroup Inc. raised its forecast for the Taiex index.
Benchmarks climbed elsewhere in the region, except in South Korea. Australia and the Philippines were closed for holidays.
US stocks rebounded on June 8, ending a three-day slump, after bond yields fell from the highest in five years and oil prices declined. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index added 1.1 per cent, the best one-day gain since March 21.
Mitsubishi UFJ rose 0.7 per cent to 1.4 million yen. Nippon Telegraph & Telephone Corp., the world's largest phone operator, added 1.5 per cent to 548,000 yen.
Japan's gross domestic product rose at a 3.3 per cent annualized rate in the three months ended in March, the Cabinet Office said. That exceeded the median forecast of 3.2 per cent growth by 27 economists surveyed by Bloomberg News. The government's original estimate was for 2.4 per cent growth.
``The revised GDP figure will improve investor sentiment even though many people had already expected the better numbers,'' said Seiichi Suzuki, a strategist at Tokai Tokyo Securities Co. in Tokyo. ``Growth is still being supported by capital spending, so companies linked to overseas demand and large domestic shares such as banks are attracting some buying.''
Sony, the maker of the PlayStation game console and Vaio computer, added 0.8 per cent to 6,640 yen, after losing 5 per cent last week. Overseas sales accounted for 70 per cent of Sony's income last year.
Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group Inc., Japan's largest bank, climbed on expectations stronger growth will boost profits for domestic businesses. Sony Corp. and Samsung Electronics Co. rose after a decline in US bond yields damped speculation that the Federal Reserve will raise interest rates in Asia's largest export market.
The forecast ``will relieve people's cautiousness toward the Japanese economy,'' said Soichiro Monji, who helps oversee about $47 billion at Daiwa SB Investments Ltd. in Tokyo. ``Stronger private consumption should favor the banking stocks.''
The Morgan Stanley Capital International Asia-Pacific Index climbed 0.3 per cent to 150.90 at 7:16 p.m. in Tokyo, as eight of the measure's 10 industry groups gained. Stocks fell last week on concern rising global interest rates will curb consumer spending and corporate profits.
Japan's Nikkei 225 Stock Average added 0.3 per cent to 17,834.48. Shares also gained after the yen weakened the most in six weeks against the dollar on June 8, increasing the value of exporters' dollar-denominated sales.
China's CSI 300 Index advanced for a fifth day after an unexpected slowdown in producer-price inflation helped damp speculation interest rates will increase. Taiwanese stocks rose after Citigroup Inc. raised its forecast for the Taiex index.
Benchmarks climbed elsewhere in the region, except in South Korea. Australia and the Philippines were closed for holidays.
US stocks rebounded on June 8, ending a three-day slump, after bond yields fell from the highest in five years and oil prices declined. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index added 1.1 per cent, the best one-day gain since March 21.
Mitsubishi UFJ rose 0.7 per cent to 1.4 million yen. Nippon Telegraph & Telephone Corp., the world's largest phone operator, added 1.5 per cent to 548,000 yen.
Japan's gross domestic product rose at a 3.3 per cent annualized rate in the three months ended in March, the Cabinet Office said. That exceeded the median forecast of 3.2 per cent growth by 27 economists surveyed by Bloomberg News. The government's original estimate was for 2.4 per cent growth.
``The revised GDP figure will improve investor sentiment even though many people had already expected the better numbers,'' said Seiichi Suzuki, a strategist at Tokai Tokyo Securities Co. in Tokyo. ``Growth is still being supported by capital spending, so companies linked to overseas demand and large domestic shares such as banks are attracting some buying.''
Sony, the maker of the PlayStation game console and Vaio computer, added 0.8 per cent to 6,640 yen, after losing 5 per cent last week. Overseas sales accounted for 70 per cent of Sony's income last year.