Asian Stocks Rally on Commodity Prices, Yen; BHP, Honda Gain

By Shani Raja

Jan. 19 (Bloomberg) -- Asian stocks rose as higher commodity prices, U.S. proposals to shore up the world’s largest economy, and a weaker yen boosted the outlook for earnings.

BHP Billiton Ltd., the world’s biggest mining company, added 1.6 percent in Sydney, while Mitsubishi Corp., which gets more than half its profit from trading commodities, climbed 3.3 percent in Tokyo. Honda Motor Co., which derives 51 percent of its earnings from North America, rallied 2.2 percent as Barack Obama’s top economic adviser said the U.S. president-elect will focus the second half of a rescue fund on consumers, local governments and businesses.

“A lot of the data is still bad, but the markets are trying to find something positive,” said Prasad Patkar, who helps manage $800 million at Platypus Asset Management in Sydney. “If authorities are able to stem job losses by alleviating the impact of the credit crunch on businesses, it will be healthy for the U.S. economy as a whole.”

The MSCI Asia Pacific Index added 0.6 percent to 85.21 as of 10:31 a.m. in Tokyo, with two stocks advancing for each that fell. Gauges of raw materials and energy shares posted the biggest gains of 10 industry groups. Japan’s Nikkei 225 Stock Average rose 0.7 percent to 8,286.42. Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 Index increased 0.9 percent.

U.S. markets are closed today for a holiday. In New York, the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index rose for a second day on Jan. 16, adding 0.8 percent.

Copper, Oil Prices

BHP rose 1.6 percent to A$30.35. Rio Tinto Group, the world’s third-biggest mining company, surged 4.5 percent to A$40.08. Newcrest Mining Ltd., Australia’s largest gold producer, rallied 7.1 percent to A$30.99.

Copper futures climbed 5.1 percent, the sharpest gain in seven days, while gold advanced 4 percent, breaking a four-day losing streak.

Inpex Corp., Japan’s largest energy explorer, rose 3.3 percent to 717,000 in Tokyo. Woodside Petroleum Ltd., Australia’s No. 2 oil and gas producer, advanced 2.3 percent to A$34.30. Oil futures in New York jumped 3.1 percent on Jan. 16, the most since Jan. 5, to $36.51 a barrel.

Honda gained 2.2 percent to 2,055 yen, while TDK Corp. jumped 3.8 percent to 3,520 yen. TDK, the world’s largest maker of magnetic heads used in disk drives, gets 11 percent of its revenue from the Americas.

Obama’s administration will deploy the second half of the $700 billion Troubled Asset Relief Program “in a very different way,” said Lawrence Summers, the president-elect’s top economic adviser. The TARP may be directed to housing, automobile loans, consumer credits, small business and municipalities rather than banks, he said.

Weaker Yen

Shares of Japanese exporters also advanced as a weaker yen boosted the value of overseas sales when converted into local currency. The yen depreciated to as much as 91.03, the weakest level in 10 days, from 90.46 at the close of stock trading in Tokyo on Jan. 16.

Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group Inc. rose 1.3 percent to 530 yen. The company is considering acquiring Citigroup Inc.’s Japanese units, the Yomiuri newspaper reported on Jan. 17, after the U.S. bank said it will spin off its “non-core” business.

Citigroup may sell Tokyo-based Nikko Asset Management Co. and Nikko Cordial Securities Inc., both of which are recognized as non-core assets, the newspaper said.

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