Asian Stocks Rise on Australian Jobs Report, Alcoa Earnings

Oct. 8 (Bloomberg) -- Asian stocks advanced for a third day, led by banks and mining companies, after Australian employers unexpectedly added workers last month and Alcoa Inc. reported earnings that beat analyst estimates.

National Australia Bank Ltd. climbed 3.4 percent after the statistics bureau said country’s jobless rate fell. Alumina Ltd., Alcoa’s partner in the world’s biggest producer of the material used to make aluminum, climbed 4.6 percent in Sydney. Mitsui O.S.K. Lines Ltd. and Nippon Yusen K.K., Japan’s two largest shipping lines, climbed more after than 6 percent being upgraded at Bank of America-Merrill Lynch.

The MSCI Asia Pacific Index climbed 1 percent to 118.29 as of 10:14 a.m. in Tokyo. The gauge climbed 68 percent from a five-year low on March 9 as better-than-estimated economic and earnings reports boosted speculation the global economy is recovering from the worst slowdown since World War II.

“Valuations are no longer particularly cheap in Asia, but they don’t appear to be overly excessive either,” said Robert Horrocks, who helps manage $9.9 billion including Asian equities at Matthews International Capital Management LLC. “Markets now are going to be driven by the ability of companies to sustain a reasonable level of growth over the long term.”

Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 Index climbed 1.4 percent, the biggest advance in the region, as the statistics bureau said the number of people employed rose 40,600 from August, in Sydney today. The median estimate of 20 economists surveyed by Bloomberg was for a decline of 10,000.

Japan’s Nikkei 225 Stock Average added 0.2 percent, while South Korea’s Kospi Index gained 0.6 percent. All key indexes in the region advanced. China is closed today for a holiday.

Futures on the U.S. Standard & Poor’s 500 Index climbed 0.9 percent. The gauge added 0.3 percent yesterday as Alcoa, the largest U.S. aluminum producer, reported third-quarter profit, while analysts had estimated a loss. The company was the first in the Dow Jones Industrial Average to release results.

“The chances are high that other U.S. companies will follow Alcoa in reporting better-than-expected results and have positive impacts on markets here,” said Kenichi Hirano, general manager at Tokyo-based Tachibana Securities Co.