Australia Stocks, Japan Futures Rise on Bank Optimism, Hitachi

By Patrick Rial

March 17 (Bloomberg) -- Australian shares and Japanese stock futures climbed on optimism bank earnings may rebound and as Hitachi Ltd. announced new restructuring plans.

Commonwealth Bank of Australia, the nation’s largest lender, rose 1.2 percent in Sydney after London-based Barclays Plc said it had a “strong start” to 2009. U.S.-traded receipts of Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group Inc., the Japan’s No. 2 lender by value, added 0.5 from the close in Tokyo on speculation the Bank of Japan may act to shore up bank capital at its policy meeting starting today. Hitachi rose 1.1 percent.

Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 Index gained 0.6 percent to 3,36.10 as of 10:07 a.m. in Sydney. New Zealand’s NZX 50 Index lost 0.5 percent in Wellington.

“While this bear market rally looks like it’s got further to go, stocks are starting to get a bit top heavy,” Mamoru Shimode, chief equity strategist at Resona Trust & Banking Co. said in an interview with Bloomberg Television. “Investors are looking to do some rotational buying today.”

Futures on Japan’s Nikkei 225 Stock Average expiring in June finished at 7,810 in Chicago, up from 7,680 in Osaka and 7,690 in Singapore. In New York, the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index reversed a 2.4 percent advance in the final hours of trading to slump 0.4 percent to 753.89.

The MSCI Asia Pacific Index has declined 15 percent this year, adding to a record 43 percent slide in 2008. Earnings forecast cuts have left the benchmark trading at 23 times estimated profits, up from 17 times at the beginning of 2008.

New President

Barclays, the U.K.’s third-biggest bank, said yesterday it had a “strong start” to 2009, echoing comments from banks such as Citigroup Inc. and JPMorgan Chase & Co. The company is in talks to sell its iShares exchange-traded funds unit.

The Bank of Japan starts a two-day policy meeting today. The Nikkei newspaper said yesterday the central bank is considering buying subordinated loans and subordinated bonds from lenders as a step to help bolster their capital and offset losses caused by writedowns on stock investments.

Hitachi said yesterday Takashi Kawamura, 69, will take over as president and chief executive officer starting April 1. The company also plans to spin off its automotive systems and consumer units, a move that may make sales or tie-ups easier, and reduce costs by 500 billion yen ($5.1 billion) in the 12 months ending March 31, 2010.

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