By Chen Shiyin
Aug. 27 (Bloomberg) -- Asian stocks advanced after earnings at China Mobile Ltd. and Woodside Petroleum Ltd. beat estimates, bolstering optimism the region will weather slowing global growth.
China Mobile, the world's biggest phone company by users, rallied 3.5 percent in Hong Kong after posting record profit. Woodside, Australia's No. 2 oil and gas producer, jumped 3.4 percent as a new project and higher prices boosted income. China Cosco Holdings Co., Asia's largest shipping company by market value, climbed 8.2 percent after surging Chinese demand for raw materials helped earnings more than double.
``We're positive on commodities companies in the longer term as emerging-market usage of raw materials continues to grow,'' said Michael Foo, Singapore-based head of Asian portfolio management at Clariden Leu AG, which manages the equivalent of $126 billion in assets globally.
The MSCI Asia-Pacific Index gained 0.8 percent to 123.38 as of 8:00 p.m. in Tokyo, rebounding from a loss of as much as 0.2 percent. The regional measure has dropped 22 percent this year as the world's largest financial companies posted writedowns and credit losses of more than $500 billion, and inflation soared.
Japan's Nikkei 225 Stock Average slipped 0.2 percent to 12,752.96, paced by Mitsubishi Estate Co., after rival developer Sohken Homes Co. filed for bankruptcy. Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index jumped 1.9 percent, the region's largest advance. About half the stock indexes in Asia gained.
Ratings Downgrade
Macquarie Group Ltd. dropped to the lowest in almost four years as UBS AG downgraded Australia's biggest securities firm, saying the operating environment remains ``difficult.'' Hyundai Heavy Industries Co., the world's No. 1 shipbuilder, fell after saying it plans to bid for a stake in Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering Co.
U.S. stocks advanced yesterday, rebounding from the biggest drop in a month. Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the largest U.S. mortgage-finance companies, jumped after Citigroup Inc. analysts said the companies have enough capital to last the year. Futures for the Standard & Poor's 500 Index slipped 0.1 percent today.
China Mobile gained HK$3.25 to HK$96.55, the biggest contributor to gains on MSCI's Asian index. The company said net income jumped 51 percent to a record 30.8 billion yuan after price cuts helped to attract subscribers, beating the median estimate of 28.3 billion yuan in a Bloomberg survey of analysts.
Woodside gained A$1.92 to A$58.42, its highest close since July 17. The company posted first-half profit of A$1.02 billion ($874 million) on record prices, topping the median forecast of A$939.3 million in a Bloomberg survey of analysts.
Cnooc, China Cosco
The shares also gained after crude oil for October delivery rose 1 percent to $116.27 a barrel in New York yesterday on forecasts showing that Hurricane Gustav may enter the Gulf of Mexico, home to more than a fifth of U.S. oil production. Futures were at $116.60 today.
Cnooc Ltd., China's No. 1 offshore oil company, rose 3.8 percent to HK$11.62 in Hong Kong. The company may say today first-half net income rose 52 percent to 22.1 billion yuan ($3.2 billion), according to the median estimate of five analysts surveyed by Bloomberg.
China Cosco climbed HK$1.20 to HK$15.78 in Hong Kong. Net income rose to 15.1 billion yuan ($2.2 billion) in the first half from 7.2 billion yuan a year earlier, the shipping line said.
Jiangxi Copper Co., China's biggest smelter of the metal, surged 9.5 percent to HK$12.64, its largest gain since Feb. 4. First-half profit rose 32 percent to 2.77 billion yuan ($404 million) because of a surge in byproduct prices, the company said.
Earnings Impacted
Macquarie plunged 9.6 percent to A$41.61, its lowest close since November 2004, after UBS cut its rating to ``neutral'' from ``buy,'' saying that slower stock and commodities trading and fewer investment bank deals will hurt earnings. The company also has ``less capital flexibility'' amid the global credit crunch, UBS said.
Also in Sydney, Westfield Group, the world's biggest shopping center owner by market value, slumped 3.4 percent to A$16.10 after a 35 percent drop in first-half profit.
``People are expecting another reasonably large round of write-offs to come out of the investment banks,'' said Angus Gluskie, who helps oversee $500 million at White Funds Management in Sydney. ``It's been a weak time for the property market. We're expecting to see continued downward revaluations on property assets over upcoming periods.''
Sohken Bankruptcy
Mitsubishi Estate, Japan's second-biggest property developer, dropped 2.1 percent to 2,375 yen. Sumitomo Realty & Development Co., the third-largest, fell 2.9 percent to 2,180 yen.
The deteriorating Japanese property market and difficulty refinancing debt have been exacerbated by failures of other developers, Sohken said yesterday after markets shut. The company filed for court protection from creditors with liabilities of 33.9 billion yen ($309 million). The shares plunged 12 percent to 14,100 yen.
Bankruptcies among Japanese property companies more than doubled to 60 in July from a year earlier, according to Tokyo Shoko Research Ltd.
In South Korea, Hyundai Heavy dropped 2.9 percent to 237,000 won after the world's largest shipbuilder said it plans to bid for a controlling stake in Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering Co. It's competing with Posco, GS Group and Hanwha Group to acquire a 50.4 percent holding being sold by state-run Korea Development Bank and Korea Asset Management Corp.
``We question Hyundai Heavy's rationale in buying another shipbuilder at this point in the cycle amid its own capacity expansion,'' Sanjeev Rana, an analyst at Merrill Lynch & Co., wrote in a report today. Hyundai Heavy's bid ``is likely to intensify the bidding war,'' said Rana, who rates the shipbuilder's stock ``underperform.''
Daewoo Shipbuilding, the world's third-largest maker of ships, rose 1.9 percent to 35,350 won.
To contact the reporter for this story: Chen Shiyin in Singapore at schen37@bloomberg.net
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