Australia Stocks, Japan Futures Gain on U.S. Auto Rescue Plan

By Masaki Kondo

Dec. 8 (Bloomberg) -- Australian shares and Japan’s stock futures rose after lawmakers neared agreement on a rescue plan for American automakers, outweighing the biggest job losses in the U.S. in more than three decades.

BHP Billiton Ltd., the world’s biggest mining company, climbed 2.1 percent in Sydney even after oil prices fell to a four-year low. U.S.-traded receipts of Honda Motor Co., which gets more than half its profit from North America, advanced 3.6 percent from the closing price in Tokyo, while those of Sony Corp. gained 1.7 percent.

Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 Index rose 1.8 percent to 3,553.50 as of 10:20 a.m. in Sydney. New Zealand’s NZX 50 Index added 1.1 percent to 2,735.16 in Wellington. In New York, the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index climbed 3.7 percent on Dec. 5, after having dropped as much as 3.2 percent.

“A worsening employment situation usually gives lawmakers a mandate to take countermeasures,” Chisato Haganuma, a Tokyo- based strategist at Nomura Securities Co., said in an interview with Bloomberg Television. “These policies may trigger a rally in equity markets.”

Nikkei 225 Stock Average futures expiring in December closed at 8,015 in Chicago, higher than 7,900 in Osaka and up from 7,890 in Singapore. The Bank of New York Mellon Asia ADR Price Index, which tracks American depositary receipts of the region’s companies, gained 2.9 percent.

The MSCI Asia Pacific Index fell 3.8 percent last week, paring a 6.8 percent gain the previous week, as looming prospects for the failure of General Motors Corp. and Chrysler LLC rattled investor confidence. A report from automakers last week showed U.S. car sales tumbled by more than a third in November as the recession deepened.

Roads, Bridges

Democrats in Congress reached an agreement in principle with the Bush Administration on providing funds aimed to prevent the collapse of GM and Chrysler, a congressional aide said.

The Labor Department said on Dec. 5 that U.S. companies cut payrolls at the fastest pace in 34 years, with the unemployment rate rising to the highest level since 1993. President-elect Barack Obama will boost investment in roads, bridges and public buildings to create and preserve 2.5 million jobs, he said on Dec. 6 in his weekly radio speech.

Crude oil for January delivery slumped for a sixth day on Dec. 5, losing 6.6 percent to $40.81 a barrel in New York, the lowest settlement since December 2004. Prices have dropped 72 percent since reaching a record $147.27 on July 11.

To contact the reporter for this story: Masaki Kondo in Tokyo at mkondo3@bloomberg.net.