Asian Stocks Rise in U.S. as China Telecom, Panasonic Advance

By Lu Wang

Oct. 20 (Bloomberg) -- Asian stocks trading in the U.S. rose the most in a week after Federal Reserve Chairman Ben S. Bernanke endorsed additional fiscal stimulus for the world's biggest economy.

China Telecom Corp. jumped 12 percent after reporting higher earnings. Panasonic Corp. climbed to a two-week high after Goldman Sachs Group Inc. said the shares were ``oversold.''

The Bank of New York Mellon Asia ADR Price Index, which represents the region's American depositary receipts, jumped 7.9 percent to 103.33. Nikkei 225 Stock Average futures expiring in December were at 9,395 in Chicago, compared with 9,065 in Singapore and 9,090 in Osaka.

U.S. stock-indexes rallied, with the Standard & Poor's 500 Index gaining 4.8 percent after the Conference Board's index of leading economic indicators unexpectedly rose in September and Bernanke said lawmakers should consider new measures to improve access to credit for consumers, homebuyers and businesses.

China Telecom jumped 12 percent to $38.77. The country's biggest fixed-line phone company said third-quarter profit rose 1.3 percent to 5.62 billion yuan ($822.8 million) as higher sales of Internet connections helped compensate for lower voice revenue.

China Unicom (Hong Kong) Ltd., the second-biggest mobile- phone carrier that this month bought China Netcom Group Corp. to enter the fixed-line market, climbed 11 percent to $14.37.

Panasonic gained 12 percent to $16.49. Shares of the world's largest maker of consumer electronics may rise, Goldman analysts including Yuji Fujimori predicted in a note, citing ``unexpectedly firm'' business in Panasonic's plasma television panels division and the company's low inventory. Sony Corp., Panasonic's smaller rival, advanced 11 percent to $26.60.

Energy shares rallied as crude oil rose more than $2 a barrel on signs that the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries may cut output to halt a 50 percent drop in prices since July.

PetroChina Co., the nation's biggest oil producer, rallied 9.7 percent to $87.56. Santos Ltd., an Australian oil and natural gas company, added 8.2 percent to $33.

To contact the reporter on this story: Lu Wang in New York at lwang8@bloomberg.net.