Asian Energy Producers Rise on Oil; Japan Manufacturers Drop on Aftershock

Asian stocks swung between gains and losses as energy producers advanced on higher oil prices and manufacturers in Japan fell after a magnitude 7.1 earthquake hit the country less than a month following the nation’s worst temblor on record.

Woodside Petroleum Ltd. (WPL), Australia’s No. 2 oil and gas producer rose 0.9 percent as oil topped $110 a barrel. Fast Retailing Co., operator of the Uniqlo chain of casual clothing, surged 5.4 percent in Tokyo after raising its full-year profit forecast. Nintendo Co., the maker of the Wii game consoles, declined 3.7 percent in Osaka. Nissan Motor Co., Japan’s third- largest carmaker, slipped 1.1 percent.

The MSCI Asia Pacific Index was little changed to 135.35 as of 10:10 a.m. in Tokyo, having lost as much as 0.3 percent earlier. About the same number of stocks advanced as fell in the index. The gauge rose for the past two weeks as Japanese companies resumed production after last month’s quake and Chinese firms posted profits that beat analyst estimates.

“The concern is further disruptions to the economic base of Japan,” said Martin Schulz, who manages $360 million of international equities as a senior portfolio manager at PNC Capital Advisors LLC in Cleveland. The March 11 quake “not only affected the local economy, but also the supply chain of some of the companies that are leaders in the technology industry. The concern is how it would further affect those companies.”

Japan’s Nikkei 225 (NKY) Stock Average was little changed, erasing losses of as much as 0.6 percent earlier. South Korea’s Kospi Index increased 0.3 percent and Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 Index both added 0.4 percent.
March 11 Quake

The Nikkei 225 posted its biggest two-day plunge since the 1987 crash on March 14 and March 15 after the quake and tsunami on March 11 killed or left missing more than 27,000 people and prompted radiation leaks at Tokyo Electric Power Co.’s Fukushima nuclear power plant. The benchmark gauge has fallen 8.1 percent since March 10.

The 7.1-magnitude earthquake before midnight yesterday spared the Fukushima plant, although workers struggling to cool radioactive fuel were evacuated, Tokyo Electric said. The aftershock was the second-strongest since the record quake. No unusual conditions were observed at the plant afterward, the utility and Japan’s Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency said in statements.

“Even though it appears there wasn’t that much damage from last night’s aftershock, it’ll lead to investors holding back,” said Juichi Wako, a senior strategist at Tokyo-based Nomura Holdings Inc. “Exporters are likely to be sold as there seems to be a pause in the weakening yen.”

Tokyo Electric gained 2.7 percent, paring its plunge this year to 82 percent.
Budget Dispute

Futures on the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index gained 0.1 percent today. The gauge lost 0.2 percent in New York yesterday and the Dow Jones Industrial Average retreated from an almost three-year high as a dispute over the federal budget threatened to shut down the American government.

The MSCI Asia Pacific Index lost 1.7 percent this year through yesterday, compared with gains of 6 percent by the S&P 500 and 1.8 percent by the Stoxx Europe 600 Index. Stocks in the Asian benchmark are valued at 13.2 times estimated earnings on average, compared with 13.7 times for the S&P 500 and 11.3 times for the Stoxx 600.