By Kyung Bok Cho
Sept. 12 (Bloomberg) -- Asian stocks climbed for the first time in four days, led by commodity-related and financial companies, as metals prices rose and speculation Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. will find a buyer eased concern of bank failures.
BHP Billiton Ltd. added 4.4 percent after copper and zinc advanced. Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group Inc. gained 4.3 percent as Lehman entered talks with buyers including Bank of America Corp., according to the Wall Street Journal.
The MSCI Asia Pacific Index added 0.9 percent to 115.93 as of 3:42 p.m. in Tokyo, poised to end a three-day, 5.3 percent drop. The measure is set to lose 0.8 percent this week after Lehman's record quarterly loss pushed global writedowns and credit losses from the collapse in the U.S. mortgage market to $511 billion. The benchmark had surged earlier this week after the U.S. government's seizure of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.
``With Fannie and Freddie behind us, the lingering problem was Lehman, but the talk it may be bought by Bank of America suggests that we're headed for a solution,'' said Chu Moon Sung, who oversees $10 billion as head of overseas investment at Shinhan BNP Paribas Investment Trust Management Co. in Seoul. ``Today is a bit of a technical rebound, helped by the feeling that the worst may be past.''
Japan's Nikkei 225 Stock Average gained 0.9 percent to 12,214.76. Mitsui & Co., which generates more than half its profit from commodities trading, rallied 5.5 percent after volatility on a benchmark gauge of raw-material prices rose to the highest since 1973, a signal that declines may be over.
Commodities Rally
Most benchmark indexes advanced. Vietnam's VN Index plunged 4.2 percent, the region's largest retreat. Indonesia's Jakarta Composite index lost 4 percent led by PT Astra International, the nation's biggest auto retailer, after the rupiah fell as much as 1 percent against the dollar and triggered concern inflation will quicken and prompt the central bank to raise interest rates.
U.S. stocks rose yesterday, with the Standard & Poor's 500 Index advancing 1.4 percent to 1,249.05 as bank shares staged a comeback on news of Lehman's potential sale. S&P 500 futures were 0.2 percent lower.
BHP, the world's biggest mining company, added 4.4 percent to A$36 in Sydney. Mitsui advanced 5.5 percent to 1,617 yen in Tokyo. A measure of six metals traded on the London Metal Exchange yesterday advanced 1.1 percent, with zinc climbing 2.5 percent and copper 1.3 percent.
The weekly historical volatility for the Reuters/Jefferies CRB Index of 19 raw materials rose to 27 percent yesterday, on a 10-week basis. The only other time the volatility measure has risen above 25 percent was in August 1973. After peaking at 32 on Sept. 7, 1973, it began a four-week decline of 12 percent and headed for a three-month low in November of that year.
Lehman Buyer?
Mitsubishi UFJ, Japan's biggest bank, rallied 4.3 percent to 858 yen. Woori Finance Holdings Co., which has the most U.S. mortgage-related investments among South Korean banks, gained 5.9 percent to 15,150 won.
The U.S. Treasury and the Federal Reserve have been working with Lehman on a sale of the securities firm, and a deal may be announced before Asian markets open Sept. 15, a person with knowledge of the matter said. Bank of America is a potential suitor, the Wall Street Journal said on its Web site.
Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group Inc., Japan's second-largest bank by market value, advanced 5.5 percent to 686,000 yen. Macquarie Group Ltd., Australia's biggest securities firm, rose 4.8 percent to A$44.01.
``Some people out there believe that the worst is over,'' said Nicole Sze, a Singapore-based investment analyst at Bank Julius Baer & Co., which manages $350 billion in assets worldwide. ``If the rescue doesn't go through, obviously it will have a serious impact on the market.''
Hanjin, Anhui Conch
Hanjin Shipping Co., the largest South Korean shipping line, advanced 7.4 percent to 27,500 won. Qantas Airways Ltd., Australia's biggest airline, gained 3.5 percent to A$3.54. Crude oil fell 1.7 percent to $100.87 a barrel yesterday in New York, the lowest since March 24. Oil has dropped by a third from a record on July 11 as high prices and slowing global economic growth cut demand.
Cement makers that do business in China declined on concern property demand will slump, hurting profits. Anhui Conch Cement Co., China's biggest maker of the construction material, fell 1.4 percent to HK$29.10 in Hong Kong, the fourth day of losses. Taiwan Cement Corp., the second-largest on the island, slid 2.4 percent to NT$24.05, the lowest since September 2006.
``A China property sector meltdown could be looming,'' Morgan Stanley analysts including Jerry Lou said in a report dated today. ``Property prices are already cracking in China in major cities.''
Huaneng, Noritz
Chinese power producers rose after the China Securities Journal said the government will raise retail electricity prices this year. Shanghai Electric Power Co., which supplies a third of the power in China's richest city, added 6.2 percent to 3.77 yuan in Shanghai. Huaneng Power International Inc., a unit of the nation's biggest electricity producer by capacity, gained 3.5 percent to HK$5.90 in Hong Kong.
Noritz Corp., a Japanese maker of gas-fired baths and water heaters, surged 10 percent to 1,072 yen, the biggest gain since March 4, 2002. Warren Lichtenstein's Steel Partners fund, which has an 18.7 percent stake in Noritz, proposed yesterday to buy all the shares in the company it doesn't already own.
To contact the reporters for this story: Patrick Rial in Tokyo at prial@bloomberg.net; Kyung Bok Cho in Seoul at kcho7@bloomberg.net
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