Asian Stocks Advance as China Trade Figures Boost Metal Prices

By Shani Raja and Anna Kitanaka

Jan. 11 (Bloomberg) -- Asian stocks rose, lifting the MSCI Asia Pacific excluding Japan Index for the 13th time in 14 days, after Chinese trade figures boosted metals prices and the nation’s regulators approved index futures and short sales.

BHP Billiton Ltd., the world’s biggest mining company, gained 2 percent as copper rose in after-hours trading in New York. Posco, the steelmaker that is due to report profit on Jan. 14, jumped 3.1 percent in Seoul after Hyundai Securities Co. raised its share-price target. Brokerage China Everbright Ltd. surged 10 percent in Hong Kong, leading financial shares higher on speculation Chinese trading volumes will rise.

The MSCI Asia Pacific excluding Japan Index added 1.2 percent to 432.48 as of 6:02 p.m. in Hong Kong. Japanese markets are closed today for a holiday. The broader MSCI Asia Pacific Index, which includes Japan, increased 34 percent last year on optimism growth around the region is accelerating.

“The whole recovery story is unfolding very well,” said Nader Naeimi, a Sydney-based strategist at AMP Capital Investors, which oversees about $75 billion. “Recovery in China is on track and the fact that export numbers are very strong shows external demand from the developed world is gaining traction.”

China’s Shanghai Composite Index and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index both climbed 0.5 percent. Chinese exports climbed 17.7 percent from a year earlier, the first increase in 14 months, and imports jumped 55.9 percent, the customs bureau said yesterday. The S&P/ASX 200 Index rose 0.8 percent in Sydney. Taiwan’s Taiex Index increased 0.5 percent.

Metals Demand

Futures on the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index gained 0.5 percent. The gauge rose 0.3 percent to a 15-month high on Jan. 8 as speculation the Federal Reserve will leave interest rates near zero overshadowed an unexpected decrease in jobs.

Material producers accounted for 32 percent of the MSCI Asia Pacific excluding Japan Index’s advance today on optimism that growth in China, the world’s third-largest economy, will stimulate demand for metals. Copper futures in New York gained as much as 2.6 percent today.

BHP Billiton Ltd., the world’s biggest mining company, gained 2 percent to A$44.47. Rio Tinto Group, the world’s third- biggest mining company, added 1.3 percent to A$80.

Posco, South Korea’s largest steelmaker, climbed 3.1 percent to 625,000 won. Hyundai Securities Co. raised its share- price estimate to 750,000 won, citing an improvement in the global steel industry. BlueScope Steel Ltd., Australia’s largest steelmaker, climbed 1.9 percent to A$3.30.

Risk Appetite

Aluminum Corp of China Ltd., the country’s largest producer of the metal, added 7.2 percent to HK$10.64 after increasing alumina prices for a second time in a week.

The Chinese trade figures revived investor appetite for risk, dragging the dollar lower and boosting demand for bullion as an alternative asset. Gold for immediate delivery strengthened 1.4 percent to $1,153.90 an ounce, extending the 0.6 percent advance from Jan. 8.

Newcrest Mining Ltd., Australia’s largest gold producer, climbed 1.7 percent to A$36.82 while rival St. Barbara Ltd. surged 6.5 percent to 33 Australian cents.

China Everbright surged 10 percent to HK$22.45 in Hong Kong. Citic Securities Co., China’s largest brokerage by market value, rose 3.6 percent to 33.42 yuan. Morgan Stanley recommended buying shares with large weightings after the China Securities Regulatory Commission on Jan. 8 cleared an overhaul of trading laws that will permit short sales and stock-index futures.

“Big-cap stocks will be given a premium for their high liquidity, as index futures are expected to bring more market participants,” said Chen Wenzhao, a strategist at China Merchants Securities Co. in Shanghai. “The export data offer another piece of evidence that the economic recovery is strengthening.”

Orient Overseas Surges

In Hong Kong, Orient Overseas International Ltd. surged 11 percent to HK$46.80 after Goldman Sachs Group Inc. raised its share-price estimate 14 percent on speculation revenue from its real-estate projects in China will increase.

Orient Overseas, Hong Kong’s biggest container line, is involved in property development through a subsidiary. The stock was the second-best performer on the MSCI Asia Pacific excluding Japan Index today. China Everbright was the third-best performer.

Optimism for global growth grew last week as the U.S. government reported a 1.1 percent increase in factory orders. The gain was more than twice as much as economists anticipated. Taiwan’s exports climbed in December at the fastest pace since February 1995, the government said on Jan. 7.

‘No Imminent Threat’

Australian advertisements for job vacancies surged by the most in 2 1/2 years, Australia & New Zealand Banking Group Ltd. reported today. Sales at U.S. retailers rose 0.5 percent last month, the third consecutive increase, according to the median forecast of 57 economists surveyed by Bloomberg News ahead of Commerce Department figures due Jan. 14.

“We see no imminent threat to what remains a supportive mix for risk assets,” Morgan Stanley strategists Gerard Minack and Jason Todd wrote in a report today. “The macro data remain consistent with moderate expansion in developed economies, and something better in emerging economies.”

The MSCI Asia Pacific Index’s 34 percent rise last year outpaced gains of 23 percent by the S&P 500 and 28 percent for Europe’s Dow Jones Stoxx 600 Index amid bets Asian growth will outstrip the rest of the world. Stocks in the MSCI gauge trade at an average of 20 times estimated earnings, compared with 15 times for the S&P 500 and 13 times for the Stoxx 600.

Among stocks that fell, WorleyParsons Ltd. lost 1.4 percent to A$30.04 in Sydney after Australia’s biggest engineering company was downgraded to “sell” from “neutral” at UBS AG.

Auckland International Airport Ltd., New Zealand’s largest airport operator, declined 2.9 percent to NZ$2.02 in Wellington. The company agreed to pay A$133 million ($123 million) for a stake in two airports in Australia’s Queensland state.

To contact the reporters for this story: Shani Raja in Tokyo at sraja4@bloomberg.net; Anna Kitanaka in Tokyo at akitanaka@bloomberg.net.