Asian stocks rise to record, Honda Motor, Bharti Airtel advance
Wednesday, 10 October 2007
LONDON Oct. 9 (Bloomberg): Asian stocks rose, driving indexes in eight countries to records. Honda Motor Co. led Japan's exporters higher after the yen reached a two-month low against the dollar.
India's Sensitive Index surged 4.5 per cent, the biggest gain among Asia's benchmarks, after Citigroup Inc. boosted its price targets for Bharti Airtel Ltd. on expectations of higher earnings. Bank of Communications Ltd. lifted Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index to a record on speculation funds from China's mainland will pour into local equities as the government eases investing rules.
``There's still a lot of liquidity trying to find a home,'' said Lim Kok Boon, chief investment officer at Fortis Private Banking in Singapore. ``Here the valuations are good, domestic confidence is strong. We're still pretty upbeat about the region's prospects.''
Taiwan's Chi Mei Optoelectronics Corp. climbed after it reported a 68 per cent rise in sales last month. Hyundai Heavy Industries Co. led gains among shipbuilders after Goldman, Sachs & Co. said higher vessel prices will lead to ``strong'' earnings.
Benchmarks in China, Australia, Hong Kong, South Korea, Singapore, India, Indonesia and Pakistan climbed to intraday or closing records. The Morgan Stanley Capital International Asia- Pacific Index rose 0.5 per cent to 166.69 as of 8:02 p.m. in Tokyo, set to surpass the previous record close of 166.41 on Oct. 3.
Indexes in New Zealand, Taiwan, the Philippines and Sri Lanka were the only decliners. The Nikkei 225 Stock Average added 0.6 per cent to 17,159.90 in Japan, where the market was closed yesterday, catching up with a rally fueled by a pickup in U.S. hiring.
The Standard & Poor's 500 Index in the U.S. rose to a record on Oct. 5 after the Labor Department said the number of jobs in the country rose by 110,000 last month, more than the 100,000 additions forecast by economists in a Bloomberg survey.
The yen recently traded at 117.35 per dollar, compared with 116.59 at the Oct. 5 market close in Tokyo. A weaker yen increases the value of exporters' dollar-denominated sales when converted into the Japanese currency.
Honda rose 1 per cent to 4,020 yen, the highest since Aug. 15. Sony Corp., maker of the Vaio computer and the PlayStation game console, added 0.5 per cent to 5,820 yen. A one-yen difference against the U.S. currency affects Sony's operating profit by about 6 billion yen ($51 million), the company said in May.
In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng climbed 1.7 per cent. The index has surged 38 per cent from the start of trading on Aug. 20, when China said it will allow some citizens to invest directly in Hong Kong's stocks.
India's Sensitive Index surged 4.5 per cent, the biggest gain among Asia's benchmarks, after Citigroup Inc. boosted its price targets for Bharti Airtel Ltd. on expectations of higher earnings. Bank of Communications Ltd. lifted Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index to a record on speculation funds from China's mainland will pour into local equities as the government eases investing rules.
``There's still a lot of liquidity trying to find a home,'' said Lim Kok Boon, chief investment officer at Fortis Private Banking in Singapore. ``Here the valuations are good, domestic confidence is strong. We're still pretty upbeat about the region's prospects.''
Taiwan's Chi Mei Optoelectronics Corp. climbed after it reported a 68 per cent rise in sales last month. Hyundai Heavy Industries Co. led gains among shipbuilders after Goldman, Sachs & Co. said higher vessel prices will lead to ``strong'' earnings.
Benchmarks in China, Australia, Hong Kong, South Korea, Singapore, India, Indonesia and Pakistan climbed to intraday or closing records. The Morgan Stanley Capital International Asia- Pacific Index rose 0.5 per cent to 166.69 as of 8:02 p.m. in Tokyo, set to surpass the previous record close of 166.41 on Oct. 3.
Indexes in New Zealand, Taiwan, the Philippines and Sri Lanka were the only decliners. The Nikkei 225 Stock Average added 0.6 per cent to 17,159.90 in Japan, where the market was closed yesterday, catching up with a rally fueled by a pickup in U.S. hiring.
The Standard & Poor's 500 Index in the U.S. rose to a record on Oct. 5 after the Labor Department said the number of jobs in the country rose by 110,000 last month, more than the 100,000 additions forecast by economists in a Bloomberg survey.
The yen recently traded at 117.35 per dollar, compared with 116.59 at the Oct. 5 market close in Tokyo. A weaker yen increases the value of exporters' dollar-denominated sales when converted into the Japanese currency.
Honda rose 1 per cent to 4,020 yen, the highest since Aug. 15. Sony Corp., maker of the Vaio computer and the PlayStation game console, added 0.5 per cent to 5,820 yen. A one-yen difference against the U.S. currency affects Sony's operating profit by about 6 billion yen ($51 million), the company said in May.
In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng climbed 1.7 per cent. The index has surged 38 per cent from the start of trading on Aug. 20, when China said it will allow some citizens to invest directly in Hong Kong's stocks.