Asian Stocks Rise as Recession Concern Eases; Canon, BHP Gain

March 13 (Bloomberg) -- Asian stocks rose, as banks and electronics makers led the regional benchmark index to the first weekly gain in a month, after Bank of America Corp. said it was profitable and Japan signaled more economic stimulus.

Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group Ltd., Japan’s biggest bank, rose 5.3 percent as the Mainichi newspaper reported Prime Minister Taro Aso will order his government to compile an additional stimulus package. Canon Inc., the world’s largest camera maker, jumped 7 percent after forecasting profit to increase. BHP Billiton Ltd., Australia’s biggest oil producer, rose 3.4 percent in Sydney as crude soared 11 percent yesterday.

“Nervousness about the stability of the financial system has been behind recent declines, and the retreat of those fears is a definite plus,” Kazuhito Suzuki, a strategist in Tokyo at Shinkin Asset Management Co., which oversees about $6.1 billion, said in an interview with Bloomberg Television. “The outlook today is bullish.”

The MSCI Asia Pacific Index rose 2.8 percent to 74.17 as of 11:14 a.m. in Tokyo, taking its advance this week to 3.1 percent. The gauge has slumped 17 percent this year, extending last year’s record 43 percent drop as the global recession decimated profits at companies from BHP to Canon.

Japan’s Nikkei 225 Stock Average gained 4.4 percent to 7,514.23, while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index rose 3 percent. Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 Index jumped 3.2 percent. All markets open for trading advanced except the Philippines.

Credit Ratings

Futures the U.S. Standard & Poor’s 500 Index lost 0.4 percent as Fitch Ratings cut its credit rating on billionaire Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway Inc. The S&P 500 jumped 4.1 percent yesterday as General Electric Co. said losing the top credit rating at Standard & Poor’s won’t hurt business.

Bank of America yesterday followed Citigroup Inc. and JPMorgan Chase & Co. in saying it was profitable in the first two months of 2009. The comments eased concerns about the global credit crisis that has caused writedowns and losses at institutions worldwide to swell to more than $1.2 trillion.

Mitsubishi UFJ Financial rose 5.6 percent to 418 yen in Tokyo. Mizuho Financial Group Inc., Japan’s second-largest bank, gained 3.5 percent to 177 yen.

Aso’s stimulus package may total 20 trillion yen ($205 billion) and the government may sell more bonds to pay for the measures, the Mainichi newspaper reported. Finance Minister Kaoru Yosano said today the government will sink funds into Minami-Nippon Bank Ltd. and Fukuho Bank Ltd.

Governments from the U.S. to Japan and China have stepped up efforts to avert what the World Bank predicts will be the first global economic contraction since World War II.

Oil Surges

Canon climbed 7 percent to 2,440 yen in Tokyo. The company said yesterday its net income will increase to 150 billion yen in 2010 from this year’s forecast of 98 billion yen. That reflects Canon’s expectations that the global economy may recover next year.

BHP Billiton, the world’s biggest mining company, rose 3.4 percent to A$31.39 in Sydney. Woodside Petroleum Ltd., Australia’s second-largest oil producer, added 4.5 percent to A$37.60. Inpex Corp., Japan’s largest oil explorer, soared 4 percent to 677,000 yen in Tokyo.

Crude oil for April delivery rose 11 percent to $47.03 a barrel in New York, the biggest gain since Feb. 19. The contract surged before a meeting by OPEC this weekend where production may be cut for a fourth time.

Sony Corp., the world’s second-largest maker of consumer electronics, gained 6.5 percent to 1,848 yen. The company will buy equipment for manufacturing LCDs from Seiko Epson as part of an alliance, the companies said yesterday.