Asian stocks rose this week after US jobless claims fell and a manufacturing gauge unexpectedly gained, boosting optimism demand from the world's largest economy will help exporters such as Nissan Motor Co and Advantest Corp.
"We are expecting some rebound in export-related stocks as demand recovers and data suggests US economic growth may be sustainable," said Masanao Yoshitake, who helps manage US$2.5 billion in Japanese equities at Meiji Dresdner Asset Management Co in Tokyo.
The Morgan Stanley Capital International Asia Pacific Index, which tracks more than 800 stocks in the region, added 2.2 this week, its third weekly gain.
All other benchmarks in Asia rose for the week, except for those in Malaysia and Sri Lanka.
Japan's Nikkei 225 Stock Average added 0.4 percent to 11,815.95, its third weekly gain.
TAIEX CLIMBING
The TAIEX had its biggest jump since the five days ended Nov. 8, 2002. Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index had its first weekly advance in five.
The MSCI Asia Pacific gained 11 percent in the first quarter on optimism a US-led economic recovery will fuel demand for Asian-made goods.
An industry report yesterday showed Singaporean manufacturing rose, while the South Korean government earlier in the week said exports in March climbed to a record.
In February, Japan recorded its fastest export growth to the US in more than a year, while Hong Kong's total shipments surged almost a third.
US stock benchmarks had their biggest weekly gains in at least six months, led by a 5 percent advance in the NASDAQ Composite Index, after a government report showed the economy added 308,000 jobs in March, the most in almost four years.
The Standard & Poor's 500 added 3 percent this week and had its first weekly gain in four.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 2.5 percent. The increases in the S&P 500 and Dow were the biggest since the five days ended Oct. 3. The NASDAQ's weekly gain was the biggest since the week ended May 30.
Japan's Topix index gained 0.7 percent to 1184.20 this week.
Exports accounted for a quarter of Japan's 6.4 percent annual pace of growth in the fourth quarter.
On Friday, Nissan climbed 1.5 percent to 1,160 yen. The nation's third-largest automaker gets about 80 percent of its operating profit in North America. Toyota Motor Corp, the biggest automaker by market value, rose 1.1 percent to ¥3,780.
Shares of the two carmakers also advanced after an Autodata Corp report showed that they paced sales gains the US, the world's largest auto market, last month, as Asian automakers' market share rose for a 13th month in 14. Nissan's sales in the US rose 30 percent, while revenue at Toyota grew 5.5 percent.
Yesterday's report from the US Labor Department showed that the increase in workers was more than double the forecast and the most since April 2000.
Earlier, the department said the number of Americans filing initial jobless claims fell last week to 342,000, below the average for the first three months of the year.
"Unemployment seems to be falling, so I would expect an improvement in the job market" in the US, said Stella Lau, who helps manage US$1 billion at East Asia Asset Management Co in Hong Kong. "Economic growth picking up will give a better back drop for equity markets."
Separately, the Institute for Supply Management's factory index yesterday rose to 62.5 in March, above the reading of 59.5 expected by economists in a Bloomberg News survey.
COMPUTERS GAIN
Computer-related companies, which account for almost a quarter of Japan's exports, also advanced. NEC Corp climbed 3.4 percent to ¥877. Japan's largest personal-computer maker gets a third of its sales from abroad.
Advantest advanced 3.7 percent to ¥8,980. The world's biggest maker of equipment used to test computer memory chips expects a twofold gain in operating profit this fiscal year because of rising sales, the Nihon Keizai Shimbun reported.
The TAIEX gained 0.3 percent to 6545.54. It added 6.7 percent this week. United Microelectronics Corp (
"Overseas suppliers will benefit" from US growth, said Mike Shiao, who manages US$45 million at Invesco Taiwan Ltd.
The Hang Seng gained 0.4 percent to 12,731.76, taking its advance this week to 2 percent. HSBC Holdings Plc added 0.4 percent to HK$117.50.
The world's second-biggest bank by market value got 36 percent of last year's sales in North America.
Singapore's Straits Times Index rose 0.5 percent to 1880.45.
Venture Corp, the island's biggest electronics maker for companies such as Hewlett-Packard Co, rose 2.5 percent to S$20.30. Chartered Semiconductor Manufacturing Ltd (
The world's No. 4 supplier of made-to-order computer chips gets about two-thirds of its sales from the US.
The Singapore Institute of Purchasing and Materials Management said its purchasing managers' index increased 0.3 point from February to 53.4. A reading above 50 indicates production expanded.
ANTI-VIRUS SALES
Trend Micro Inc, the world's third-largest maker of anti-virus software, surged 11 percent to ¥4,180. UBS Securities Japan Ltd raised the earnings estimates for the year ending December to ¥87.6 per share from ¥78.8, citing confidence in its cost controls.
Mitsubishi Motors Corp, Japan's only unprofitable passenger carmaker, jumped 11 percent to ¥288.
The automaker, which had the biggest sales drop among automakers in the US last year, will get about ¥150 billion (US$1.4 billion) from Mitsubishi Corp and other Mitsubishi Group companies to help revive the brand, people familiar with the plan said.
Bharat Heavy Electricals Ltd, India's biggest power-equipment maker, slid 2.3 percent to 622.70 rupees.
It reported full-year profit rose 38 percent to 6.15 billion rupees (US$140 million) from a year ago, less than the 6.4 billion rupees average estimate given by three analysts surveyed by Bloomberg.
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