Asian stocks rise second week for biggest annual gain since 1993
Sunday, 3 January 2010
TOKYO, Jan 2 (Bloomberg): Asian stocks rose for the second week, capping the MSCI Asia Pacific Index's biggest annual gain since 2003, after China raised its economic growth figures and Japan said industrial production increased.
Hitachi Ltd., Japan's fourth-largest company by sales, added 4 per cent. Suning Appliance Co, China's biggest home-appliance retailer by market value, climbed 5.9 per cent. Korea Electric Power Corp jumped 4.1 per cent in Seoul after leading a group that won the United Arab Emirates' first order for a nuclear-power plant.
"The global economy is just about bottoming out," said Masaru Hamasaki, chief strategist at Tokyo-based Toyota Asset Management Co, which oversees the equivalent of $14 billion. "I don't expect huge economic growth, but I do see things recovering."
The MSCI Asia Pacific Index rose 0.7 per cent to 120.45 in a holiday-shortened week. The gauge climbed 34 per cent in 2009, its biggest annual gain since 2003, on signs government spending and lower interest rates are bolstering economies.
Japan's Nikkei 225 Stock Average rose 0.5 per cent in the country's three-day trading week, after factory output increased in November from October and the government said on Dec 25 that gross domestic product will probably expand 1.4 per cent in the year starting April 1.
The Nikkei 225 has plunged 73 per cent since it climbed to an intraday record of 38,957.44 on the final business day of 1989, the world's worst performer in the period. Japan's broader Topix index rose 5.6 per cent this year, the lowest return among benchmark equity gauges for the world's 10 largest markets.
Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index and Australia's S&P/ASX 200 Index both climbed 1.7 per cent this week.
The Shanghai Composite Index advanced 4.3 per cent this week as China raised its 2008 growth estimate to 9.6 per cent from 9 per cent on Dec. 25, and said 2009's quarterly figures will also increase.
Japan's Cabinet Office said Dec 25 that the economy will expand for the first time in three years, while the Trade Ministry said on Dec 28 factory output increased 2.6 per cent in November from October. The median estimate of 24 economists surveyed by Bloomberg News was for a 2.5 per cent gain.
Hitachi climbed 4 per cent to 284 yen. The maker of washing machines and nuclear reactors will sign a contract valued at as much as 1 trillion yen ($11 billion) early in 2010 for a high- speed train project in the UK, the Sankei newspaper reported, without citing anyone.
Consumer Stocks
Suning Appliance Co., China's biggest home appliance retailer by market value, added 5.6 percent to 20.78 yuan. GD Midea Holding Co, the nation's second-biggest publicly traded appliance maker, gained 2.4 per cent to 23.30 yuan.
"Consumer stocks are good bets as they will receive most of the government support next year," Wei Wei, an analyst at West China Securities Co in Shanghai, said Dec 28. Central bank Governor Zhou Xiaochuan said on Dec 31 the People's Bank of China will maintain a "moderately loose" monetary policy.
The Shanghai Composite Index rallied 80 per cent in 2009 as government spending and a credit boom helped the nation's economy recover from its steepest slump in more than a decade.
Korea Electric jumped 4.1 per cent to 34,100 won in Seoul. Its partners in the nuclear-power bid also gained, with Doosan Heavy Industries & Construction Co. soaring 9.7 per cent to 81,100 won and Hyundai Engineering & Construction Co. climbing 4.3 per cent to 70,900 won.
"We will probably start to see more business deals like this one, bit by bit," said Toyota Asset Management's Hamasaki.
The MSCI Asia Pacific Index's 2009 advance has outpaced gains of 23 per cent by the S&P 500 in the US and 28 per cent for the Dow Jones Stoxx 600 Index in Europe. Stocks in the MSCI gauge trade at an average of 23 times estimated earnings, compared with 18 times for the Standard and Poor's 500 Index in the US and 16 times for the Dow Jones Stoxx 600 Index in Europe.
Hitachi Ltd., Japan's fourth-largest company by sales, added 4 per cent. Suning Appliance Co, China's biggest home-appliance retailer by market value, climbed 5.9 per cent. Korea Electric Power Corp jumped 4.1 per cent in Seoul after leading a group that won the United Arab Emirates' first order for a nuclear-power plant.
"The global economy is just about bottoming out," said Masaru Hamasaki, chief strategist at Tokyo-based Toyota Asset Management Co, which oversees the equivalent of $14 billion. "I don't expect huge economic growth, but I do see things recovering."
The MSCI Asia Pacific Index rose 0.7 per cent to 120.45 in a holiday-shortened week. The gauge climbed 34 per cent in 2009, its biggest annual gain since 2003, on signs government spending and lower interest rates are bolstering economies.
Japan's Nikkei 225 Stock Average rose 0.5 per cent in the country's three-day trading week, after factory output increased in November from October and the government said on Dec 25 that gross domestic product will probably expand 1.4 per cent in the year starting April 1.
The Nikkei 225 has plunged 73 per cent since it climbed to an intraday record of 38,957.44 on the final business day of 1989, the world's worst performer in the period. Japan's broader Topix index rose 5.6 per cent this year, the lowest return among benchmark equity gauges for the world's 10 largest markets.
Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index and Australia's S&P/ASX 200 Index both climbed 1.7 per cent this week.
The Shanghai Composite Index advanced 4.3 per cent this week as China raised its 2008 growth estimate to 9.6 per cent from 9 per cent on Dec. 25, and said 2009's quarterly figures will also increase.
Japan's Cabinet Office said Dec 25 that the economy will expand for the first time in three years, while the Trade Ministry said on Dec 28 factory output increased 2.6 per cent in November from October. The median estimate of 24 economists surveyed by Bloomberg News was for a 2.5 per cent gain.
Hitachi climbed 4 per cent to 284 yen. The maker of washing machines and nuclear reactors will sign a contract valued at as much as 1 trillion yen ($11 billion) early in 2010 for a high- speed train project in the UK, the Sankei newspaper reported, without citing anyone.
Consumer Stocks
Suning Appliance Co., China's biggest home appliance retailer by market value, added 5.6 percent to 20.78 yuan. GD Midea Holding Co, the nation's second-biggest publicly traded appliance maker, gained 2.4 per cent to 23.30 yuan.
"Consumer stocks are good bets as they will receive most of the government support next year," Wei Wei, an analyst at West China Securities Co in Shanghai, said Dec 28. Central bank Governor Zhou Xiaochuan said on Dec 31 the People's Bank of China will maintain a "moderately loose" monetary policy.
The Shanghai Composite Index rallied 80 per cent in 2009 as government spending and a credit boom helped the nation's economy recover from its steepest slump in more than a decade.
Korea Electric jumped 4.1 per cent to 34,100 won in Seoul. Its partners in the nuclear-power bid also gained, with Doosan Heavy Industries & Construction Co. soaring 9.7 per cent to 81,100 won and Hyundai Engineering & Construction Co. climbing 4.3 per cent to 70,900 won.
"We will probably start to see more business deals like this one, bit by bit," said Toyota Asset Management's Hamasaki.
The MSCI Asia Pacific Index's 2009 advance has outpaced gains of 23 per cent by the S&P 500 in the US and 28 per cent for the Dow Jones Stoxx 600 Index in Europe. Stocks in the MSCI gauge trade at an average of 23 times estimated earnings, compared with 18 times for the Standard and Poor's 500 Index in the US and 16 times for the Dow Jones Stoxx 600 Index in Europe.