Asian Stocks Rise as Energy Producers Gain on Oil Rally: Woodside Jumps

Asian stocks rose, driven by energy producers, as crude oil futures gained for a fourth day and on speculation BHP Billiton Ltd. will bid for Woodside Petroleum Ltd. (WPL)

Woodside Petroleum Ltd., Australia’s No. 2 oil and gas producer, jumped 7.3 percent after the Sunday Times reported yesterday BHP is in talks to buy Royal Dutch Shell Plc’s 24 percent stake in Woodside and make a takeover offer. Tokyo Electric Power Co., owner of the crippled Fukushima Dai-Ichi nuclear plant, surged 17 percent after a report said it plans to buy gas turbines to boost power supply in Japan. Qantas Airways Ltd., Australia’s biggest carrier, slipped 1.4 percent, while Korean Air Lines Co. dropped 2.3 percent on concern high energy costs may slow the economic recovery and damage corporate earnings

“Higher oil prices have a negative effect on corporate earnings,” said Kenichi Hirano, general manager and strategist at Tachibana Securities Co. in Tokyo.

The MSCI Asia Pacific Index gained 0.2 percent to 136.77 as of 10:03 a.m. in Tokyo, erasing losses of as much as 0.2 percent earlier. About the same number of stocks rose as fell in the index. The gauge has risen for three weeks as Japanese companies resumed production after last month’s earthquake, and as an improving U.S. economy bolstered optimism the global recovery can be sustained.

Japan’s Nikkei 225 (NKY) Stock Average fell 0.3 percent. The nation’s machinery orders dropped for the first time in three months in February before the record earthquake and a tsunami devastated the northeastern region.

South Korea, Australia

South Korea’s Kospi Index climbed 0.2 percent, Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 Index advanced 0.2 percent and New Zealand’s NZX 50 Index increased 0.4 percent.

Futures on the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index rose 0.2 percent today. In New York, the index dropped 0.4 percent to 1,328.17 on April 8 as oil’s rally to a 30-month high drove down transportation shares and investors speculated a fight in the U.S. Congress over the federal budget may shut the government for the first time since 1996.

Crude oil for May delivery rose 2.3 percent to $112.79 a barrel in New York on April 8, the highest settlement since Sept. 22, 2008. Oil extended gains today, increasing as much as 0.6 percent, as the North Atlantic Treaty Organization escalated its air campaign over Libya and on concern unrest may spread to other energy-exporting countries in the Middle East.

The MSCI Asia Pacific Index lost 0.8 percent this year through April 8, compared with gains of 5.6 percent by the S&P 500 and 2.1 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 11.4 times for the Stoxx 600.