Asian stocks posted their biggest weekly gain since August 2007 amid optimism governments worldwide will succeed in reviving lending and global growth.
The MSCI Asia Pacific Index has rallied 21 percent from a five-year low on March 9, technically entering a bull market.
Toyota Motor Corp, which gets 37 percent of its sales from North America, gained 10 percent in Tokyo on optimism the US Treasury’s plan to remove banks’ “toxic” assets will revive economic growth.
BHP Billiton Ltd, the world’s No. 1 mining company, climbed 5.7 percent in Sydney after prices for oil and metals advanced.
MSCI’s Asian benchmark gauge rose 7.5 percent to 85.49 last week, its best weekly performance since the week ended on Aug. 24, 2007.
A measure tracking energy stocks on the MSCI gauge rallied 11 percent this week, the sharpest jump among the 10 industry groups on the MSCI Asia Pacific Index.
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index rose 10 percent, its best week since October. Japan’s Nikkei 225 Stock Average climbed 8.6 percent while South Korea’s Kospi Index added 5.7 percent.
Governments from the US to Japan are widening measures to ease the financial crisis, which has caused more than US$1 trillion of losses worldwide, and to avert what the World Bank predicts will be the first global economic contraction since World War II.
Toyota jumped 10 percent to ¥3,260 (US$33.31) in Tokyo last week. Sony Corp, which gets a quarter of its sales from the US, surged 13 percent to ¥2,225.
Samsung Electronics Co, the world’s biggest maker of computer memory, rose 7.8 percent to 584,000 won in Seoul.
BHP climbed 5.7 percent to A$34.01 (US$23.56) in Sydney. Cnooc Ltd., China’s biggest offshore oil producer, jumped 11 percent to HK$8.33 (US$1.07) in Hong Kong. Crude oil added 2.6 percent to US$52.38 a barrel in New York last week.
A measure of six primary metals traded in London fell 0.1 percent.
Rio Tinto Group, the world’s third-largest mining company, soared 21 percent to A$56.88. The company said on Thursday that it had an alternative plan should Aluminum Corp of China’s US$19.5 billion investment deal fail.
MSCI’s Asian benchmark gauge rose 13.7 percent this month, which was the biggest monthly gain since October 1998, when governments were cutting interest rates to alleviate the Asian financial crisis.
The gains pared the measure’s drop this year to 4.6 percent and raised the average valuation of companies on the MSCI Asia Pacific Index yesterday to 16.7 times profit, the highest level since December 2007.
TAIPEI
Taiwanese share prices could face resistance in the week ahead after their recent strong showing, amid worries about earnings reports from high-tech firms scheduled for early next month, dealers said.
They said profit-taking could cap any gains, although the financial and industrial sectors could see a bounce from rotational buying.
“It is time for the market to have a correction, which is expected to make it technically healthier for another round of upside,” President Securities analyst Steven Huang said.
For the week to Friday, the weighted index rose 429.09 points or 8.65 percent to 5,390.70. The index gained 1.31 percent the previous week.
Huang said a central bank decision to stop a cycle of interest rate cuts, after seven reductions since September, had boosted investor confidence.
“I do not expect the market will suffer any plunge at a time when there seems to be some light at the end of the tunnel in an economic recession,” he said.
Other regional markets
KUALA LUMPUR: Flat. The Kuala Lumpur Composite Index lost 0.04 points to 885.43.
Genting fell 2.1 percent to 3.78 ringgit while Sime Darby gained 1.7 percent to 5.90.
JAKARTA: Up 3.01 percent. The Jakarta Composite Index jumped 42.77 points to 1,462.74. The market was closed on Thursday for a national holiday.
MANILA: Up 2.61 percent. The composite index added 51.99 points to 2,040.25.
WELLINGTON: Up 1.42 percent. The benchmark NZX-50 index rose 37.22 points to 2,653.48.
MUMBAI: Up 0.45 percent. The 30-share SENSEX index rose 45.39 points to 10,048.49, its fifth straight day of gains.
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