Australia Stocks, Japan Futures Gain on Policy Expectations

By Masaki Kondo

Jan. 22 (Bloomberg) -- Australia shares and Japan’s stock futures rose on renewed optimism government and central bank measures will ease turmoil in global financial markets.

Commonwealth Bank of Australia climbed 2.8 percent in Sydney after U.S. Treasury Secretary-nominee Timothy Geithner said President Barack Obama will announce his economic and financial plan within the next weeks. U.S.-traded receipts of brokerage Nomura Holdings Inc. advanced 6 percent from the closing price in Tokyo as speculation grew the Bank of Japan will act to ease a credit shortage. Those of Mitsubishi Corp., a Japanese trading company that gets more than half its profit from commodities, gained 5.7 percent after oil prices jumped the most this year.

Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 Index rose 0.5 percent to 3,460.80 as of 10:04 a.m. in Sydney. New Zealand’s NZX 50 Index added 0.8 percent to 2,727.43 in Wellington. In New York, the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index climbed 4.4 percent, led by financial shares.

“There’s a tug-of-war between expectations for Obama’s stimulus measures and pessimism about the worsening global economy,” Mitsushige Akino, who oversees the equivalent of $615 million at Tokyo-based Ichiyoshi Investment Management Co., said in an interview with Bloomberg Television. “The market is held in this very tenuous balance.”

Nikkei 225 Stock Average futures expiring in March closed at 8,100 in Chicago, 2.9 percent higher than 7,870 in Osaka and Singapore. The Bank of New York Mellon Asia ADR Price Index, which tracks American depositary receipts of the region’s companies, gained 4.5 percent.

‘Comprehensive Plan’

The MSCI Asia Pacific Index plunged by a record 43 percent last year as the deepening credit crisis dragged the U.S., Japan and Europe into their first simultaneous recessions since World War II. Credit losses and asset writedowns have amounted to more than $1 trillion at global financial companies, according to counts by Bloomberg.

Geithner yesterday told Congress that Obama will propose a “comprehensive plan” within the next few weeks for responding to the economic and financial crises. The plan will tackle the tightening credit, the collapse of the housing market and global economic conditions that require a coordinated international response, Geithner said.

“An improvement in the U.S. banking system would have a global influence,” said Jason Teh, who helps manage $3.5 billion at Investors Mutual Ltd. in Sydney. “The cost of banks lending to each other would begin to come down and that would help revive spending.”

BOJ Meeting

In Japan, the central bank is scheduled to conclude its two- day meeting today. Governor Masaaki Shirakawa and his colleagues may pledge purchases of corporate bonds and other types of securities from banks to help businesses raise funds, according to economists.

Expectations government stimulus measures will help revive global demand for commodities boosted oil prices yesterday. Crude oil for March delivery leapt 6.6 percent to $43.55 a barrel in New York, the biggest gain since Dec. 31.

Meanwhile, the Japanese currency appreciated against the dollar to as much as 87.13 yesterday, the strongest level since July 1995, from 89.88 at the 3 p.m. close of Tokyo stock trading yesterday. A stronger local currency reduces the value of repatriated overseas sales for Japanese companies. The yen weakened to as much as 89.49 today.

Sony Corp. will announce the closing of one of two domestic television factories and the cutting of more than 2,000 jobs in Japan by the end of fiscal 2009, the Nikkei newspaper said, without citing any sources. Chairman Howard Stringer will also lower the company’s fiscal 2008 earnings outlook, Nikkei said. The company is scheduled to disclose its latest projections and details of a reorganization plan by next week.

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