Asian Stocks Climb as Toshiba, JPMorgan Fuel Growth Optimism

April 17 (Bloomberg) -- Asian stocks advanced, with the regional benchmark index heading for its sixth-consecutive weekly gain, as earnings reports from Toshiba Corp. and JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted confidence the global recession is easing.

Toshiba Corp., Japan’s largest maker of semiconductors, jumped 4.4 percent as it reported a smaller operating loss than it previously forecast. HSBC Holdings Plc, which owns a U.S. mortgage business, climbed 2.6 percent in Hong Kong on optimism banking profits are recovering. Woolworths Ltd., Australia’s largest retailer, gained 3.1 percent in Sydney after reporting better-than-estimated sales.

“Investors are optimistic that we will see better news from the second quarter onwards, said Tat Auyeung, a fund manager at Apex Capital Management in Hong Kong, which oversees $500 million. “Confidence in the market is returning.”

The MSCI Asia Pacific Index added 1.5 percent to 90.26 at 12:04 p.m. in Tokyo, erasing its losses for the year. The gauge has risen 2.6 percent this week, its sixth-consecutive advance, which is the longest winning streak since December 2006.

Japan’s Nikkei 225 Stock Average climbed 2.2 percent to 8,949.55. South Korea’s Kospi index gained 0.8 percent and Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 Index added 1.6 percent. All markets open for trading advanced except China.

Nippon Steel Corp., the world’s No. 2 maker of the alloy, surged 9 percent in Tokyo trading on speculation that price cuts offered to automakers were less than anticipated. Megaworld Corp., the third-largest Philippine builder by market value, advanced 7.8 percent in Manila on higher profit.

Jobless Claims

Futures on the U.S. Standard & Poor’s 500 Index lost 0.4 percent. The gauge gained 1.6 percent yesterday as JPMorgan, the country’s second-largest bank by assets, reported a 10 percent decline in first-quarter earnings to $2.14 billion, or 40 cents a share. That beat the estimate of 32 cents expected by analysts surveyed by Bloomberg.

The MSCI Asia Pacific Index has rallied 27 percent from a more than five-year low reached on March 9 amid signs government measures worldwide to ease the global recession are working. The U.S. Labor Department reported yesterday new jobless claims in the week ended April 11 fell by the fewest since January.

Analysts’ earnings estimates for companies included in the MSCI benchmark started to rise this month after a year of falling predictions, data compiled by Bloomberg show.

Toshiba added 4.4 percent to 332 yen in Tokyo. The operating loss, or sales minus the cost of goods sold and administrative expenses, was 250 billion yen ($2.5 billion), or 11 percent smaller than the company’s previous 280 billion yen loss projection, the company said.

Nokia, Google

Computer-memory chipmakers climbed after prices of the benchmark dynamic random access memory, or DRAM, chips climbed 7.6 percent yesterday to the highest since Oct. 14. Hynix Semiconductor Inc. gained 7.6 percent to 14,250 won, while largest memory chipmaker Samsung Electronics Co. rose 3.1 percent to 599,000 won in Seoul.

Technology shares also rose after Nokia Oyj, the world’s biggest maker of mobile phones, said yesterday that demand was stabilizing. Google Inc., the world’s most popular search engine, said first-quarter profit rose 8.9 percent, exceeding analysts’ estimates.

Finance stocks on the MSCI Asia Pacific Index accounted for 22 percent of the gauge’s advance today. The shares are the third-best performers of the MSCI measure’s 10 industry groups in the past month.

Japanese Steelmakers

HSBC rose 2.6 percent to HK$56.70. Commonwealth Bank of Australia, the nation’s largest mortgage lender, climbed 2.4 percent to A$37.64 in Sydney. Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group Inc., Japan’s largest publicly traded bank, added 1.2 percent to 511 yen in Tokyo.

Woolworths advanced 3.1 percent to A$26.36. The retailer’s sales increased to A$12.3 billion ($8.8 billion) in the three months ended April 5 from A$11.6 billion a year earlier, it said in a statement today. That was higher than the 5.7 percent median estimate of analysts in a Bloomberg News survey.

Nippon Steel surged 9 percent to 341 yen. JFE Holdings Inc., Japan’s No. 2 producer, rose 9.4 percent to 2,955 yen.

Japanese mills agreed with Toyota Motor Corp. to reduce prices by about 15,000 yen ($151) per metric ton for the year through March 2010, the Asahi newspaper reported.

That’s half the cut that was anticipated, Yuji Matsumoto, a Nomura Holdings Inc. analyst, wrote in a report. Nippon Steel’s operating profit could see a 100-billion yen boost as a result, Matsumoto said.

In Manila, Megaworld jumped 7.8 percent to 69 centavos after saying profit last year increased 25 percent.