Asian Stocks Rise for Second Day; Babcock, James Hardie Gain

By Chua Kong Ho

Dec. 4 (Bloomberg) -- Asian stocks climbed for a second day, led by financial companies after central banks stepped up efforts to arrest the economic downturn and U.S. mortgage applications increased by a record.

Shinhan Financial Group Co. and KB Financial Group Inc. rose more than 2 percent after South Korea’s central bank said it would make a one-time interest payment on lenders’ reserves. Babcock & Brown Ltd., the Australian asset manager struggling to stave off collapse, doubled in Sydney after receiving a bank loan, buying time to sell assets and cut costs. James Hardie Industries NV, the biggest U.S. home-siding seller, rallied 4.4 percent after home-loan applications more than doubled last week.

The MSCI Asia Pacific Index gained 0.5 percent to 80.28 as of 9:23 a.m. in Tokyo. All 10 industry groups advanced on the gauge, with financial stocks contributing almost half the gain.

Japan’s Nikkei 225 Stock Average advanced 1 percent to 8,082.94. New Zealand’s NZX 50 Index added 0.6 percent after the central bank cut its benchmark interest rate by a record 1.5 percentage points to 5 percent and signaled more reductions to come. Westfield Group, which operates shopping centers in Australia, New Zealand, the U.S. and U.K., added 2.9 percent.

South Korea’s Kospi Index climbed 1.6 percent for its first gain in four days. The Bank of Korea said it would make a one- time interest payment on reserves lenders deposit at the central bank and buy more securities in its money market operations to ease a funding shortage.

Futures on the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index slid 0.3 percent today. The S&P 500 rose 2.6 percent yesterday after mortgage applications in the U.S. more than doubled last week to the highest level since March. The Federal Reserve said last month it would commit up to $800 billion to free up credit for consumers and small businesses, driving down the rate on 30-year fixed mortgages to a three-year low.

To contact the reporter for this story: Chua Kong Ho in Shanghai at kchua6@bloomberg.net