Asian Stocks Gain for Third Day as Oil, Metal Prices Advance

By Patrick Rial

Dec. 9 (Bloomberg) -- Asian stocks climbed for a third day as government efforts worldwide to end the global recession drove commodity prices higher.

BHP Billiton Ltd., the world’s biggest mining company, gained 4.2 percent in Sydney after copper rose the most in six weeks. Mitsubishi Corp., which earns more than half its profit from commodities, advanced 4.4 percent in Tokyo as JPMorgan Chase & Co. reiterated its bullish stance on trading houses. Nintendo Co. jumped 5 percent after the company’s president said demand for its game players will hold up this year.

The MSCI Asia Pacific Index added 1 percent to 83.94 as of 10:28 a.m. in Tokyo, taking its advance in the past three days to 5.7 percent. The gauge has retreated 47 percent this year, set for the worst annual performance in its 20-year history. The index is valued at 12 times estimated profit, about a quarter below its level at the start of 2008.

Benchmark indexes in most markets open for trading advanced. Commonwealth Bank of Australia, the　nation’s largest lender, led the country’s banks lower after Westpac Banking Corp. announced plans to raise new capital.

Japan’s Nikkei 225 Stock Average rose 0.9 percent to 8,400.82. Gains were limited as the government revised its estimate of third-quarter growth to a 1.8 percent contraction. The worst financial crisis since the Great Depression has dragged the U.S., Europe and Japan into the first simultaneous recession since World War II.

Government Support

Today’s advance extended a rally that lifted the MSCI World Index yesterday to a four-week high. Stocks climbed as U.S. President-elect Barack Obama pledged the biggest government spending program since the 1950s, while India cut interest rates and announced a $4 billion stimulus package. Hong Kong will provide $12.9 billion of loan guarantees to help businesses, Donald Tsang, the city’s chief executive, said late yesterday.

In New York, the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index climbed 3.8 percent, extending its advance from an 11-year low last month to 21 percent. Futures on the measure lost 0.5 percent today.

Obama said on Dec. 6 he will raise spending on roads, bridges and public spending, triggering a rally in commodities. Copper futures in New York added 9.1 percent yesterday, the most since Oct. 29, while crude oil surged 7.1 percent to $43.71 a barrel, breaking a six-day losing streak. Oil has dropped 70 percent from a record $147.27 on July 11.

Mining and material companies are the worst performers this year among 10 industry groups on the MSCI Asia Pacific Index as the deepening global recession diminished demand for commodities.

To contact the reporter for this story: Patrick Rial in Tokyo at prial@bloomberg.net.