Asian Stocks Climb on Growth Optimism; Sony, Tenaga Advance

(Bloomberg) -- Asian stocks climbed, lifting the regional benchmark index to the highest in more than three months, on growing optimism that stimulus efforts and record-low interest rates are easing the global recession.

Sony Corp., which gets 25 percent of its sales in the U.S., rose 3.1 percent in Tokyo as the Federal Reserve’s Beige Book survey showed the U.S. slowdown is moderating. Mitsubishi Electric Corp. jumped 4 percent on speculation a venture will merge with NEC Electronics Corp., Japan’s No. 3 chipmaker. Tenaga Nasional Bhd., Malaysia’s largest electricity provider, added 4.6 percent on higher-than-estimated profit.

“We’re probably seeing a bottoming out in the economy,” said Arjuna Mahendran, Asia chief investment strategist in Singapore HSBC Private Bank, which oversees $494 billion in assets. “The second quarter will be good for stocks as corporate earnings should bounce.”

The MSCI Asia Pacific Index advanced 1.5 percent to 90.33 at 12:14 p.m. in Tokyo, wiping out its losses for 2009. The gauge, which is set to close at the highest level since Jan. 7, has rallied 28 percent from a five-year low reached on March 9.

Japan’s Nikkei 225 Stock Average jumped 2.9 percent to 8,996.39, while South Korea’s Kospi index climbed 1.6 percent. Benchmark indexes in Hong Kong and China fell as a government report showed the Chinese economy grew at the slowest pace in almost 10 years.

Australand Property Group, a unit of Singapore’s CapitaLand Ltd., surged 12 percent in Sydney after it got approvals from banks to refinance debt. Mitsui OSK Lines Ltd. gained 2.9 percent in Tokyo, pacing gains among shipping companies, after transport rates rose.

Fed Survey

Futures on the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index lost 0.3 percent. The gauge rose 1.3 percent in New York yesterday after credit card provider American Express Co. said bad loans increased at a slower pace in March.

Global stocks rallied from the lowest levels in more than a decade on speculation government stimulus worldwide will end the global recession. Investors in 10 countries grew less concerned that stocks will keep falling, Bloomberg’s Professional Global Confidence Survey showed. It was the first unanimous improvement in the gauge since it began 17 months ago.

Sony, the world’s second-largest maker of consumer electronics, climbed 3.1 percent to 2,520 yen. Toyota Motor Corp., which gets 37 percent of its sales from North America, added 1.3 percent to 3,850 yen.



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