Asian Stocks Advance, Paring Worst Start to Year Since 1990

Feb. 27 (Bloomberg) -- Asian stocks rose, helping the regional benchmark index pare the worst start to a year since 1990, as technology companies gained on brokerage upgrades and commodity shares advanced on higher metal prices.

LG Display Co., the world’s second-largest maker of liquid crystal displays, jumped 4.9 percent after Goldman, Sachs & Co. raised its share-price target. Rio Tinto Ltd., the world’s third-largest mining company, rose 1.4 percent as copper climbed to a two-week high. Woolworths Ltd., Australia’s biggest retailer, slumped 4.4 percent on lower-than-expected profit.

“There are bright spots and some valuations are tempting,” said Tim Schroeder, who helps manage about $2.6 billion at Pengana Capital Ltd. in Melbourne. “But the outlook is not rosy. There’s a great degree of uncertainty about the future.”

The MSCI Asia Pacific Index rose 0.9 percent to 75.20 as of 12:09 p.m. in Tokyo, narrowing its February drop to 7.5 percent and its 2009 decline to 16 percent. The gauge has lost 50 percent in the past year, cutting average stock valuations by 13 percent, as the global recession battered earnings at companies from Toyota Motor Corp. to BHP Billiton.

The Nikkei 225 Stock Average climbed 0.7 percent to 7,511.20, as the yen at a three-month low boosted Japanese exporters’ earnings prospects. The Nikkei pared its drop this month to 4.6 percent. South Korea’s Kospi Index rose 1.4 percent.

Telstra Corp., the country’s biggest phone company, lost 4.1 percent as Citigroup Inc. recommended investors sell the stock. QBE Insurance Group Ltd., the country’s No. 1 property and casualty insurer, slumped 2.9 percent after posting second- half earnings that were unchanged from a year earlier. Kubota Corp., Asia’s largest tractor maker, slumped 5.3 percent in Tokyo after saying it may cut its dividend payment.

Obama Budget

Futures on the U.S. Standard & Poor’s 500 Index added 0.2 percent, following the gauge’s 1.6 percent decline yesterday. President Barack Obama delivered his first budget to Congress yesterday, which seeks standby authority for as much as $750 billion in new aid to the financial industry while laying plans for a health-care system overhaul.

Governments worldwide including the U.S., China and Australia have this year sought to introduce measures to ease the financial crisis that has stunted economic growth. New home sales in the U.S. tumbled 10 percent last month, while first- time claims for jobless benefits jumped to the highest level since 1982, government reports showed yesterday.

In Tokyo today, Japan’s Trade Ministry said the country’s manufacturers slashed production by an unprecedented 10 percent last month, as the world’s second-largest economy heads for its worst postwar recession.

Brokerage Upgrades

LG Display climbed 4.9 percent to 25,750 won. Goldman, Sachs & Co. raised its share-price target by 15 percent to 29,500 won, saying panel prices are continuing their rebound in February.

Panasonic Corp., the world’s largest consumer-electronics maker, rose 1.5 percent to 1,155 yen. The stock was upgraded to “outperform’ from ‘‘neutral’’ at Credit Suisse Group AG, which cited the company’s efforts to cut costs and develop environment-friendly technologies.

Rio jumped 1.4 percent to A$46.96. BHP, the world’s largest mining company, added 0.8 percent to A$28.84. Copper climbed 2.7 percent yesterday in New York to the highest price since Feb. 9. An index of six metals traded on the London Metals Exchange rose 1.8 percent, the fourth day of gains.

Woolworths declined 4.4 percent to A$26.77. First-half net income of A$983.3 million ($634 million) was lower than the A$1.001 billion median estimate of six analysts Bloomberg News surveyed by telephone and e-mail.

‘Astonishingly Bad’

Telstra lost 4.1 percent to A$3.53 after Citigroup cut its recommendation on the stock to “sell” from “hold” on concern the carrier may be excluded “permanently” from building a nationwide high-speed Internet network.

QBE dropped 2.9 percent to A$19.43 said second-half profit was unchanged as foreign-exchange gains and underwriting profits cushioned losses on equity investments.

Kubota slumped 5.3 percent to 462 yen. The company is considering reducing its dividend payment next business year by as much as 30 percent because of “astonishingly bad” profit numbers, President Yasuo Masumoto said.