Asian Stocks Rise to Four-Week High, Led by Commodity Companies

June 16 (Bloomberg) -- Asian stocks rose to a four-week high after a report showing growth in New York manufacturing boosted confidence that a recovery in world’s biggest economy will increase corporate earnings.

Toyota Motor Corp., a carmaker that gets about 28 percent of its sales from North America, gained 1.4 percent in Tokyo. BHP Billiton Ltd., the world’s biggest mining company, climbed 1.8 percent in Sydney after commodity prices advanced. Samsung Electronics Co., Asia’s largest chipmaker, rose 1.8 percent in Seoul. Nintendo Co. jumped 4.7 percent in Osaka, Japan, after the company introduced a new handheld video-game player.

“We are bullish on the U.S. economy,” said Naoki Fujiwara, a fund manager in Tokyo at Shinkin Asset Management Co., which oversees about $6 billion. “The continuing improvement in earnings will drive down valuations even further, so there is little concern that the market will decline.”

The MSCI Asia Pacific Index climbed 0.9 percent to 115.45 as of 11:03 a.m. in Tokyo, rising for a fifth day in its longest winning streak since April 7. The index has lost 4.1 percent this year on concern that Greece and other European countries will struggle to curb their budget deficits and repay debt.

Japan’s Nikkei 225 Stock Average rose 1.6 percent, the biggest increase among equity benchmarks in the Asia-Pacific region. South Korea’s Kospi Index advanced 0.4 percent. Markets in Hong Kong, China and Taiwan are closed today for a holiday.

New York Manufacturing

Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 gained 1.1 percent even as an index of leading economic indicators in the country slowed in April to the weakest pace in three months, according to Westpac Banking Corp. and the Melbourne Institute.

Futures on the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index fell 0.2 percent. The gauge climbed 2.4 percent in New York yesterday after the Federal Reserve Bank of New York said its general economic index of manufacturing rose in June for an 11th consecutive month.

Optimism the world’s largest economy is gathering momentum boosted the dollar to near a one-week high against the yen today, further buoying by Japanese exporters.

Toyota, the world’s largest automaker, rose 1.4 percent to 3,335 yen in Tokyo. Canon Inc., which is the world’s biggest maker of digital cameras and receives 78 percent of its revenue from outside Japan, increased 3.2 percent to 3,855 yen.

Nissan Motor Co., Japan’s third-biggest carmaker, increased 3.7 percent to 693 yen. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. raised its investment rating on the company to “buy” from “neutral,” while lowering its share-price estimate to 800 yen from 950 yen.

Yen Boosts Exporters

The yen fell to as low as 91.67 against the dollar today from 91.48 yen at yesterday’s close of stock trading in Tokyo. A weaker yen boosts the value of overseas income at Japanese companies when converted into their home currency.

The MSCI Asia Pacific Index has slumped 11 percent from its 52-week high on April 15 as swelling budget deficits prompted Standard & Poor’s to cut ratings of Greece, Spain and Portugal. The retreat has driven down the average price of shares in the gauge to 14.8 times estimated earnings. The ratio sank to 13.8 times on May 18, the lowest level since December 2008.

“Shares have been sold too much, considering the outlook for corporate earnings,” said Hiroichi Nishi, an equities manager in Tokyo at Nikko Cordial Securities Inc. “U.S. manufacturing, supported by low interest rates and the buoyant Chinese economy, is recovering steadily.”

About five shares advanced for each that declined today on the MSCI Asia Pacific Index. Material and computer-related companies led gains among the gauge’s 10 industry groups.

Commodities, Chipmakers Rise

BHP rose 1.8 percent to A$39.09 in Sydney and was the biggest contributor to the index’s increase. Rio Tinto Group, the world’s third-biggest mining company, climbed 1.9 percent to A$70.75. Mitsubishi Corp., which gets about 40 percent of sales from commodities, gained 2.1 percent to 1,928 yen in Tokyo.

The prospects for higher demand buoyed oil prices by 2.4 percent to $76.94 a barrel in New York yesterday, the highest settlement since May 6. The London Metal Exchange Index advanced 0.7 percent, its sixth straight day of gains. Copper futures in New York rose 1.2 percent, their seventh consecutive increase.

Nintendo climbed 4.7 percent to 26,400 yen and was the most active stock by value in Japan. The stock rose the most in more than two months after the company unveiled a handheld machine that shows 3-D images without special glasses.

Asian chip-related shares followed a rally yesterday by their U.S. counterparts after Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. said global sales in the chip industry will increase almost 30 percent this year, compared with an April forecast of 22 percent. Morris Chang, chairman and chief executive officer of the world’s largest contract manufacturer of chips, announced the projection yesterday morning in Taiwan.

Samsung Electronics, the world’s largest maker of memory chips and liquid-crystal displays, rose 1.8 percent to 812,000 won in Seoul. Advantest Corp., the world’s biggest maker of memory-chip testers, gained 2 percent to 2,017 yen in Tokyo. Tokyo Electron Ltd., the world’s second-largest maker of semiconductor equipment, increased 2.5 percent to 5,780 yen.