Asian Stocks Advance as Japan Machinery Orders Beat Estimates

Nov. 11 (Bloomberg) -- Asian stocks rose, driving the MSCI Asia Pacific Index higher for a fourth day, after Japan’s machinery orders increased more than economists expected and shipping rates climbed.

Mori Seiki Co., a maker of precision lathes, advanced 1.9 percent as orders for Japanese machinery climbed 10.5 percent in September. STX Pan Ocean Co., South Korea’s biggest bulk carrier, climbed 3.2 percent in Seoul as the Baltic Dry Index posted its steepest jump in a month. Newcrest Mining Ltd., Australia’s largest gold producer, gained 0.7 percent as bullion advanced. Daikin Industries Ltd., the world’s No. 2 air conditioner maker, jumped 3.2 percent after lifting its annual profit forecast.

The MSCI Asia Pacific Index advanced 0.7 percent to 118.83 as of 9:54 a.m. in Tokyo, extending its four-day increase to 3.6 percent. South Korea’s Kospi climbed 0.5 percent, while Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 Index gained 0.6 percent.

Japan’s Nikkei 225 Stock Average added 0.7 percent to 9,922.12. The 10.5 percent increase in September for machinery orders, an indicator of business investment in three to six months, beat economist predictions for a 4.1 percent increase.

Asian investors are also awaiting data on industrial production, inflation and investments from China later this morning.

Futures on the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index rose 0.3 percent. The gauge was little changed yesterday and the Dow Jones Industrial Average climbed to a 13-month high for a second day. Earnings from bond guarantor MBIA Inc., engineering company Fluor Corp. and the video-game publisher Electronic Arts Inc. disappointed investors, while American Express Co. and Bank of America Corp. rallied.

Mori Seiki, Komatsu

Mori Seiki gained 1.9 percent to 921 yen. Fanuc Ltd., the world’s largest maker of industrial robots, climbed 1.6 percent to 7,740 yen. Komatsu Ltd., the world’s second-biggest maker of construction equipment, advanced 0.9 percent to 1875 yen after the stock was raised to “neutral” from “underperform” at Merrill Lynch & Co.

“The bottom is probably behind us for capital spending,” said Masamichi Adachi, a senior economist at JPMorgan Chase & Co. in Tokyo. “The retrenchment phase is over and the corporate sector as a whole should gradually pick up in a self-sustained way.”

STX Pan Ocean jumped 3.2 percent to 11,350 won. Kawasaki Kisen Kaisha Ltd., Japan’s third-biggest shipping line operator by sales, rose 1.5 percent to 330 yen.

The Baltic Dry Index, a measure of shipping costs for commodities, surged 3.9 percent yesterday, a ninth consecutive gain and the steepest rally since Oct. 8.

Gold Futures

Newcrest added 0.7 percent to A$35.41. Gold futures in New York increased for an eighth-straight session today in after- hours trading, rising 0.5 percent to $1,107.60 an ounce.

The MSCI Asia Pacific Index has climbed 68 percent from a more than five-year low on March 9, outpacing gains by the S&P 500 and Europe’s Dow Jones Stoxx 600 Index. Stocks in the benchmark are valued at 22 times estimated earnings, compared with 17 times for the S&P 500 and 15 times for the Stoxx.

Daikin rose 3.2 percent to 3,270 yen after raising its full-year forecast for net income, saying it sees signs of recovery in demand in China.