Asian Stocks Advance on Hon Hai Earnings, China Manufacturing

By Patrick Rial and Masaki Kondo

Sept. 1 (Bloomberg) -- Asian stocks rose, led by technology and mining companies, after Hon Hai Precision Industry Co. earnings beat estimates and China’s manufacturing expanded at the fastest pace in 16 months.

Hon Hai Precision Industry Co., the world’s largest contract maker of electronics, climbed 6.8 percent in Taipei as Goldman Sachs Group Inc. raised its share-price target. Samsung Electro-Mechanics Co., an electronic-parts maker, rose 9.5 percent in Seoul after Woori Investment & Securities Co. lifted its share-price estimate. Rio Tinto Group, the mining company that got 19 percent of its revenue in China last year, added 2 percent in Sydney.

The MSCI Asia Pacific Index rose 0.5 percent to 113.96 as of 1:41 p.m. in Tokyo. Two shares advanced for each one that fell on the gauge. Speculation of a global economic recovery drove the index to the highest in more than 10 months on Aug. 14. The measure has lost 0.2 percent since then.

“I don’t see why the stock market should collapse,” said Khiem Do, head of the multi-asset group at Baring Asset Management (Asia) Ltd. in Hong Kong, which holds $7 billion assets. “We are not looking at a reversal of the growth trend in China. Technology is among the sectors benefiting from this global recovery, particularly those in Taiwan and South Korea.”

China’s Shanghai Composite Index, which yesterday fell by the most since June 2008, added 0.5 percent. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index rose 0.6 percent.

Global Rally

Japan’s Nikkei 225 Stock Average gained 0.3 percent. Nippon Sheet Glass Co. rose 3.4 percent after the Nikkei newspaper said solar glass sales are rising. Clarion Co., a navigation-systems maker, rose 4.2 percent after the Nikkan Kogyo newspaper said the company took on more workers to meet orders.

Futures on the U.S. Standard & Poor’s 500 Index added 0.2 percent. The gauge dropped 0.8 percent yesterday amid concern the global rally in equities has outpaced the prospects for an economic recovery. The MSCI World Index sank 0.8 percent yesterday, the most since Aug. 17.

MSCI’s Asia Pacific measure rallied 61 percent from a more than five-year low on March 9 through yesterday. That lifted the average price of stocks on the index to 23.5 times estimated net income, higher than 17 times for the S&P 500, data compiled by Bloomberg show.

Hon Hai climbed 6.8 percent to NT$118.50. Second-quarter net income rose 27 percent to NT$15.1 billion ($459 million) from a year earlier. Hon Hai was expected to report profit of NT$11.7 billion, according to analyst estimates compiled by Bloomberg.

Beating Estimates

Goldman Sachs raised its share-price target on the stock by 4.7 percent to NT$135.

The rally in Asian stocks since March has been driven in part by profit reports in the past month that have exceeded analyst estimates. Some 35 percent of the 633 companies in the MSCI Asia Pacific Index that have reported net income since early July have beaten analyst predictions, while about 21 percent have missed, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.

Samsung Electro-Mechanic jumped 9.5 percent to 97,800 won. Kevin Lee, an analyst at Woori Investment, raised the target price on the stock to 110,000 won from 83,000 won. The analyst increased his operating-profit estimate, a report today said.

Rio gained 2 percent to A$57.24 on optimism industrial demand for metals in China will increase. BHP Billiton Ltd., the world’s largest mining company, added 1 percent to A$37.15.

The official Purchasing Managers’ Index rose to a seasonally adjusted 54 from 53.3 in July, the Federation of Logistics and Purchasing said in an e-mailed statement today in Beijing. A reading above 50 indicates an expansion.

Growing Economies

“China is seen as one of the few growing economies and it has influence over the commodity market because of its demand prospects,” said Yoji Takeda, who manages the equivalent of $1.1 billion at RBC Investment (Asia) Ltd. in Hong Kong.

Speculation that Chinese demand will fall caused crude oil to dive 3.8 percent to $69.96 a barrel in New York yesterday, the biggest decline since Aug. 14. Copper lost 4.2 percent, the most since June 22.

The Shanghai Composite Index fell into a bear market yesterday on concern that the world’s third-biggest economy will slump as banks rein in credit growth to avert asset bubbles and bad loans. The measure sank 21 percent in the past month, the world’s worst performing major index in that time.

Nippon Sheet, a maker of glass for autos, solar panels and buildings, rose 3.1 percent to 336 yen after the Nikkei newspaper reported sales of glass for solar cells in the April- to-September period will likely rise 15 percent to about 15 billion yen ($161 million).

Increasing Orders

Clarion gained 4.2 percent to 99 yen. The company tripled the number of its non-regular employees to meet orders from Ford Motor Co., the Nikkan Kogyo newspaper reported. Kazumasa Okazawa, the company’s public relations representative, confirmed the report and said domestic orders were also increasing.

STATS Chippac Ltd., a provider of chip testing and packaging services, rose 5.6 percent to 85 Singapore cents. The company said its parent Temasek Holdings Pte is still considering if it will take the company private and delist it from the exchange.

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