Asian Stocks Advance for 10th Day, Longest Streak Since 2004

July 27 (Bloomberg) -- Asian stocks rose for a 10th day, driving the MSCI Asia Pacific Index to its longest winning streak since 2004, on confidence earnings will increase at financial and mining companies.

Nomura Holdings Inc., Japan’s largest brokerage, rose 3.7 percent after the Nikkei newspaper said the company will likely post its first quarterly profit since 2007. Rio Tinto Group, the world’s third-largest mining company, added 3.1 percent in Sydney after nickel and aluminum prices advanced. Hitachi Ltd. rallied 6.5 percent after the Nikkei said it will launch takeovers of five listed affiliates.

“I expect people to focus on individual stocks with trading cues,” said Tomochika Kitaoka, a senior strategist at Mizuho Securities Co. in Tokyo. Assuming the Nikkei report on Hitachi is true, “overseas investors will likely see the plan as a chance to make Hitachi’s operations more efficient.”

The MSCI Asia Pacific Index climbed 1 percent to 109.03 as of 10:07 a.m. in Tokyo, a 10th straight gain and the longest winning streak since January 2004. Stocks on the gauge traded at 24 times estimated net income, higher than the 16 times for the U.S. Standard & Poor’s 500 Index.

Equity markets open for trading throughout the region climbed. Japan’s Nikkei 225 Stock Average rose 1 percent to 10,043.06. South Korea’s Kospi Index gained 1.3 percent.

Futures on the S&P 500 were little changed today. The gauge added 0.3 percent on July 24 after Federal Reserve Chairman Ben S. Bernanke said the central bank is “winding down” emergency measures aimed at curbing the financial crisis.

Financial Profits

Japan’s three largest brokerages, Nomura, Daiwa Securities Group Inc. and Nikko Cordial Corp., which is being acquired by Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group Inc., likely swung to profit last quarter on rising mutual fund sales and underwriting fees, the Nikkei said yesterday. Nomura jumped 3.7 percent to 824 yen. Daiwa rose 3.9 percent to 556 yen.

The nation’s top three banks also likely became profitable last quarter with a combined net income of as much as 200 billion yen ($2.1 billion), the Mainichi newspaper reported on July 25.

Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group Inc., the country’s biggest publicly traded lender, rose 1.8 percent to 560 yen, while Mizuho Financial Group Inc. gained 1.9 percent to 212 yen. Sumitomo Mitsui added 1.6 percent to 3,830 yen.

Rio Tinto jumped 3.1 percent to A$59.32. Mitsui & Co., which generates more than half its profits from commodities dealing, climbed 2.2 percent to 1,197 yen. Fortescue Metals Group Ltd., Australia’s third-largest iron ore producer, gained 2.1 percent to A$4.42.

Oil, Metals

A gauge of six metals in London climbed for a 10th day to a level not seen since Oct. 9. Crude oil rose 1.3 percent to $68.05 a barrel in New York on July 24, the highest settlement since July 1. Oil dipped 0.4 percent today.

Hitachi rallied 6.5 percent to 313 yen after the Nikkei said the electronics giant will make five listed affiliates into wholly owned subsidiaries. Hitachi Maxell Ltd., Hitachi Plant Technologies Ltd., Hitachi Information Systems Ltd., Hitachi Software Engineering Co. and Hitachi Systems & Services Ltd., were all untraded with the shares bid higher by as much as 11 percent.

A separate Nikkei report said yesterday that JTEKT Corp., a Toyota Motor Corp. affiliate, will spend as much as 40 billion yen to acquire the needle bearings business of U.S.-based Timken Co. JTEKT rallied 4.4 percent to 1,038 yen.