Asian Stocks Swing Between Gains, Losses on China Tightening

Asian stocks swung between gains and losses after China raised the reserve requirements for the country’s banks to tame inflation, fueling concern more tightening measures will curb economic growth. AIA Group Ltd. advanced in Hong Kong.

BHP Billiton Ltd., the No. 1 mining company which counts China as its biggest market, lost 0.3 percent after China raised banks’ reserve ratios to cool inflation. China Overseas Land & Investment Ltd., a builder controlled by the country’s construction ministry, dropped 2.1 percent. AIA Group Ltd., Asia’s No. 3 insurer by market value, gained 4 percent after saying its value of new business rose 21 percent in the first quarter. Softbank Corp., Japan’s third-largest wireless carrier, fell 2.4 percent after Goldman Sachs Group Inc. cut its investment rating on the shares.

“The tightening measures are dragging on, and this isn’t good for stocks or the economy,” said Koichi Kurose, chief strategist in Tokyo at Resona Bank Ltd., which oversees the equivalent of $57 billion in assets. “There’s too much uncertainty for investors to be confident enough to take positions.”

The MSCI Asia Pacific Index added 0.2 percent to 136.02 at 11:09 a.m. in Tokyo, after falling as much as 0.2 percent. About five shares rose for every three that fell on the 1,023-member gauge. The measure fell 0.5 percent last week, reversing three straight weeks of gains.

Japan’s Nikkei 225 Stock Average fell 0.2 percent. Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 Index was little changed and New Zealand’s NZX 50 Index climbed 0.2 percent. South Korea’s Kospi index advanced 0.3 percent.

U.S. Futures

Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index climbed 0.6 percent, erasing earlier losses, while China’s Shanghai Stock Exchange Composite Index declined 0.1 percent.

Futures on the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index fell 0.1 percent today. In New York, the index gained 0.4 percent on April 15 after an index of consumer sentiment improved more than expected and a gauge of manufacturing gained the most in a year.

In Sydney, BHP, which receives a quarter of its revenue from China, lost 0.3 percent to A$47.37, the biggest drag on the MSCI Asia Pacific Index. China Resources Land Ltd., a state- controlled developer, dropped 2.5 percent to HK$14.24. China Overseas Land dropped 2.1 percent to HK$16.14.

In Tokyo, Fanuc Corp., the robot maker which counts Asia including China as its biggest market for sales, dropped 0.2 percent to 13,120 yen. Komatsu Ltd., a machinery maker which counts China as its largest market, fell 1 percent to 2,757 yen.
China Policy Tightening

Reserve ratios will rise a half point from April 21, the People’s Bank of China said on its website yesterday, pushing the requirement to a record 20.5 percent for the biggest lenders. The move came less than two weeks after an interest-rate increase. Zhou sees no “absolute” limit on how high reserve requirements can go, he said April 16.

The MSCI Asia Pacific Index lost 1.4 percent this year through April 15, compared with gains of 4.9 percent by the S&P 500 and 0.7 percent by the Stoxx Europe 600 Index. Stocks in the Asian benchmark are valued at 13.1 times estimated earnings on average, compared with 13.5 times for the S&P 500 and 11.2 times for the Stoxx 600.

In Hong Kong, AIA Group rose 4 percent to HK$26.05, the third-biggest support to the MSCI Asia Pacific Index. The company said the value of new business rose 21 percent to $182 million from a year earlier in the first quarter as it sold more-profitable policies.
Softbank, Tepco

In Tokyo, KDDI Corp. lost 0.6 percent to 498,000 yen. Tokyo Electric Power, better known as Tepco, plans to sell shares in the mobile-phone operator to help fund compensation payouts to victims of the nuclear crisis at Fukushima Dai-Ichi power plant in Japan, the Nikkei newspaper reported, citing people familiar with the matter. Tepco shares gained 0.2 percent to 470 yen.

Softbank dropped 2.4 percent to 3,280 yen, the third- biggest drag on the MSCI Asia Pacific Index. Goldman Sachs cut its investment rating on the company to “sell” from “neutral” on concern the mobile-phone market in Japan is mature and there is a limited scope for growth.

Among stocks that rose, Woolworths Ltd., Australia’s biggest retailer, gained 0.7 percent to A$26.72, the third- largest support on Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 Index. The company said third-quarter sales rose 5.1 percent as demand at its supermarkets countered falling revenue at its Big W discount outlets.