(BN) Asia Stocks Rise for Seventh Month on Economic Growth Optimism

By Shani Raja
Sept. 30 (Bloomberg) -- Asian stocks rose, lifting the MSCI Asia Pacific Index to its seventh monthly advance, after China’s central bank said it will retain a "moderately loose" monetary policy and NGK Insulators Ltd. increased its profit forecast.
Poly Real Estate Group Co. rose 3.8 percent after the People’s Bank of China said stimulus measures to boost domestic demand will continue. NGK Insulators surged 8.6 percent in Tokyo after citing growing demand for products related to cars and electronics for its higher forecast. Billabong International Ltd., Australia’s biggest surfwear maker, climbed 4 percent on a better-than-estimated retail sales report.
The MSCI Asia Pacific Index added 0.7 percent to 117.62 as of 3:32 p.m. in Tokyo. The gauge is set for its second-straight quarterly advance, having climbed 14 percent in the past three months as economies around the world emerged from recession.
"The recovery is moving from being supported by governments and central banks to being a bit more self- sustained," said Nader Naeimi, a Sydney-based strategist at AMP Capital Investors, which manages about $75 billion. "Across Asia we’re seeing strong private demand as well as a strong pick-up in actual measures of economic activity."
The Shanghai Composite Index climbed 0.9 percent in China, where markets are closed from tomorrow for a week-long holiday.
The country’s central bank said it will maintain its moderately loose monetary policy to sustain an economic recovery.
Taiwan’s Taiex Index rose 1.1 percent, while Japan’s Topix Index added 0.7 percent. The Bank of Japan may decide as soon as next month to let its emergency corporate-debt buying programs expire as businesses regain access to private funding, people with knowledge of the discussions said.

U.S. Home Prices

Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index fell 0.7 percent. China South City Holdings Ltd., a developer and operator of logistics and trade centers, plunged 26 percent, becoming the fourth company in a week to decline on its first day of trading in the city.
In Seoul, Korea Gas Corp. tumbled 11 percent in Seoul on share-sale plans, while Hyundai Heavy Industries Co., the world’s largest shipyard, tumbled 9.6 percent on concern French shipping line CMA CGM SA may cancel orders.
Futures on the U.S. Standard & Poor’s 500 Index added 0.1 percent. The gauge fluctuated between gains and losses yesterday before finishing down 0.2 percent. The S&P/Case-Shiller home- price index climbed 1.2 percent in July from the previous month, the most since October 2005, according to an S&P report.
In Tokyo, NGK Insulators surged 8.6 percent to 2,075 yen after boosting its profit forecast for the year ending March 31, 2010, by 14 percent to 12.5 billion yen ($139 million).

Worst Performers

The MSCI Asia Pacific Index has added 3.5 percent in September, set for a seventh monthly advance, its longest stretch of gains since the 10 months ended July 2007. Japan’s Topix index and the Nikkei 225 are the worst performers this month among 88 global equity indexes tracked by Bloomberg, amid uncertainties over policies from the nation’s new government.
In Shanghai, Poly Real Estate gained 3.8 percent to 24.25 yuan. China Vanke Co., the nation’s biggest listed property developer, added 1 percent to 10.44 yuan.
The People’s Bank of China said yesterday after its quarterly monetary policy meeting it will guide reasonable loan growth, adding that the economic rebound isn’t solid. Chinese manufacturing expanded for a sixth month in September on stimulus spending and record bank lending, an index from HSBC Holdings Plc showed.

Holiday Buying

"Some investors are buying stocks ahead of the holidays and betting strong economic data will be released after that,"
said Chen Shide, a Guangzhou-based fund manager at GF Fund Management Co., which oversees about $11.4 billion. "The September figures will be good and there’s a strong possibility of making positive returns from equities in the short term."
The climb in equities in the past seven months has been fueled by better-than-estimated economic and earnings reports.
Australian retail sales climbed 0.9 percent in August, the first gain in three months, the country’s statistics bureau reported today. The median forecast of economists surveyed by Bloomberg News was for a 0.5 percent gain.
Billabong climbed 4 percent to A$12 in Sydney, while David Jones Ltd., Australia’s second-biggest department store, rose
1.9 percent to A$5.84.
Goodman Group, a real-estate trust, surged 9 percent to
66.5 Australian cents, after the retail data spurred speculation that an economic recovery is underway and will bolster the property market. Mirvac Group advanced 6.3 percent to A$1.68.

Rising Valuations

The MSCI index’s gain in the past three months is lower than the second quarter’s 28 percent as concerns emerged the stock rally may have overvalued company earnings prospects. The average price of the gauge’s shares rose to 1.6 times book value on Sept. 17, up from 1 at the measure’s five-year low on March 9.
China South City sank 26 percent to HK$1.56 in its debut amid concern demand for share sales in Hong Kong may be waning.
Peak Sport Products Co., China Lilang Ltd. and Metallurgical Corporation of China Ltd. also fell on their first day of trading in the past week.
Wilmar International Ltd., the world’s biggest palm-oil trader, is delaying the Hong Kong share sale of its China unit until stock markets stabilize, FinanceAsia said on its Web site.
Wilmar, which said it hasn’t decided on the timing of the sale, lost 3.7 percent to S$6.27 in Singapore.
Korea Gas, the world’s largest buyer of liquefied natural gas, slumped 11 percent to 53,300 won in Seoul after announcing plans to double its capital by selling new shares.

Technology Stocks Rise

Hyundai Heavy Industries fell 9.6 percent to 180,000 won.
CMA CGM, the world’s third-largest container line, yesterday announced talks with creditors as it battles to avoid collapse amid plunging demand and rising overcapacity. The company may also try to cancel new ships, the Financial Times said today.
Technology companies accounted for 20 percent of the MSCI Asia Pacific Index’s gain today after Micron Technology Inc.
reported a narrower loss, boosting optimism a glut in the memory-chip industry is easing.
Hynix Semiconductor Inc. gained 1.3 percent to 19,800 won.
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co., the world’s largest maker of customized chips, gained 1.3 percent to NT$64.50.
Bankruptcies and factory shutdowns have helped the memory industry pare an oversupply of chips, pushing up prices closer to the cost of production. Micron makes dynamic random access memory, or DRAM, for personal computers, as well as Nand flash chips, which store information.
In Kuala Lumpur, Hai-O Enterprise Bhd., a Malaysian seller of Chinese wines, herbs and medicines, rose 4.9 percent to a record 5.97 ringgit after first-quarter profit climbed 36 percent. OSK Research Sdn. upgraded the stock to "buy" from "neutral."