Asian stocks rose, driving the MSCI Asia-Pacific Index to its sixth advance in seven weeks, as better-than-estimated earnings from CNOOC Ltd (齌玿?暷鉥蕫) to Westfield Group offset concerns the global recovery is faltering.
CNOOC Ltd, China＊s biggest offshore oil producer, advanced 3.4 percent this week in Hong Kong. Westfield, the world＊s largest owner of shopping malls, rose 1.1 percent in Sydney. Tokyo Electron Ltd, the world＊s second-biggest producer of chipmaking equipment, climbed 2.7 percent in Tokyo after larger rival Applied Materials Inc forecast higher-than-estimated profit.
※I＊m telling people not to be too pessimistic,§ said Kenji Sekiguchi, general manager of strategic research and investment at Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co, which oversees about US$73 billion in Tokyo. ※The market in the second half of this year will reflect positive earnings more explicitly than the latest earnings season.§
The MSCI Asia-Pacific Index gained 0.4 percent this week to 118.29, following last week＊s 3.7 percent retreat. The index has slumped about 8.4 percent from its high this year on April 15 as Europe＊s debt crisis, China＊s measures to curb property-price inflation and disappointing economic reports in the US fueled concern global growth may stall.
China＊s Shanghai Composite Index advanced 1.4 percent this week as the nation＊s economy surpassed Japan as the world＊s 〝second-largest last quarter. Japan＊s Nikkei 225 Stock Average fell 0.8 percent.
Australia＊s S&P/ASX 200 Index fell 0.6 percent. Hong Kong＊s Hang Seng Index dropped 0.4 percent. South Korea＊s Kospi Index advanced 1.7 percent as sales at the nation＊s major department stores increased last month for a 17th month amid an economic recovery.
Taiwan＊s TAIEX was little changed at 7,927.31 at the close of Taipei trading at 1:30pm on Friday. The benchmark rose 0.5 percent this week.
Export orders increased for a 10th straight month last month in a sign demand for the nation＊s microchips and displays is weathering global economic risks.
Orders, an indication of shipments in the next one to three months, rose 18.23 percent from a year ago, after jumping 22.48 percent in June, the Ministry of Economic Affairs said in Taipei on Friday. The median estimate of 13 economists in a Bloomberg News survey was for a 20.5 percent gain.
※All components of the economy are expanding, but the external sectors are driving growth,§ Tine Olsen, an economist at Moody＊s economy.com in Sydney, said ahead of Friday＊s report.
The recent slowdown in exports and industrial production indicates the economy is ※cooling to sustainable growth levels§ rather than stalling, she said.
Another report showed the current-account surplus widened to US$10.56 billion in the three months through June, from US$10.3 billion in the prior period. That compared with the median estimate of US$11 billion in a Bloomberg News survey. The nation＊s exports rose for a ninth month in July, advancing 38.5 percent from a year earlier, according to data earlier this month.
Friday＊s export orders data were released after the close of trading on the stock exchange.
Other markets on Friday:
Manila closed 0.93 percent, or 33.21 points, higher from Thursday at 3,593.60. The index＊s fifth successive rise helped it reach a 32-month high.
Wellington fell 0.98 percent, or 29.38 points, from Thursday to 3,000.40.
Mumbai ended 0.29 percent, or 53.12 points, lower from Thursday at 18,401.82.
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