Most Asian Stocks Gain; Financial Companies Rise After Axa Bid

Nov. 9 (Bloomberg) -- Most Asian stocks climbed, led by financial companies after a takeover bid in Australia’s insurance industry. Japanese shares declined after the yen rose to the strongest in a week, hurting overseas sales for exporters.

Axa Asia Pacific Holdings Ltd. soared 29 percent after rejecting an unsolicited offer from its French parent Axa SA and Australian asset manager AMP Ltd. Olympus Corp., the world’s biggest maker of endoscopes, slumped 3.9 percent as the company’s first-half operating profit dropped 11 percent, partially due to the strong yen. Nissan Motor Co., which gets about three-quarters of its sales abroad, lost 2.6 percent.

The MSCI Asia Pacific Index advanced 0.2 percent to 116.56 as of 9:26 a.m. in Tokyo, with about four stocks rising for every three that fell. In New York on Nov. 6, the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index climbed 0.3 percent, as a report showing unemployment exceeded 10 percent prompted speculation the Federal Reserve will maintain a loose monetary policy.

“The employment data is positive for the stock market as that means monetary relaxation will continue,” said Tomochika Kitaoka, chief strategist in Tokyo at Mizuho Financial Group Inc. “Doubts will be eliminated that Japanese companies will post higher profits this fiscal year.”

Japan’s Nikkei 225 Stock Average fell 0.3 percent to 9,674.99. Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 Index rallied 1.4 percent, buoyed by Commonwealth Bank of Australia’s report of A$1.4 billion ($1.3 billion) in first-quarter profit.

U.S. Unemployment

U.S. stock futures were little-changed. The S&P 500 climbed on Nov. 6 after ratings of General Electric Co. and Macy’s Inc. were lifted. The unemployment rate in the U.S. jumped to 10.2 percent in October, the highest level since 1983, a Labor Department report showed.

The MSCI Asia Pacific Index has climbed 65 percent from a more than five-year low on March 9, outpacing gains by the S&P 500 and Europe’s Dow Jones Stoxx 600 Index. Stocks in the benchmark are valued at 22 times estimated earnings, compared with 17 times for the S&P and 15 times for the Stoxx.

Olympus lost 3.9 percent to 2,745 yen. Nissan declined 2.6 percent to 639 yen.

The yen rallied to as high as 89.62 versus the dollar on Nov. 6 following the unemployment report. That compared with 90.64 at the close of stock trading in Tokyo that day.

To contact the reporter for this story: Patrick Rial in Tokyo at prial@bloomberg.net;