By Shani Raja
Jan. 12 (Bloomberg) -- Most Asian stocks gained as Chinese auto sales and better-than-estimated profit at Infosys Technologies Ltd. fueled optimism that regional growth will outpace the rest of the world.
SAIC Motor Corp. climbed 3.5 percent in Shanghai, after the biggest jump in Chinese auto sales in at least 10 years. Infosys, India’s No. 2 software exporter, gained 4 percent. Industrial & Commercial Bank of China Ltd. lost 2.2 percent in Hong Kong as the country moved to tighten monetary policy. Alumina Ltd. sank 4.9 percent in Sydney after venture partner Alcoa Inc.’s earnings trailed estimates.
Seven stocks advanced for every six that declined on the MSCI Asia Pacific Index, which added 0.3 percent to 126.04 as of 7:14 p.m. in Tokyo. The gauge has surged 42 percent in the past 12 months amid signs of recovery in the region’s economies, led by China.
“China and India are undoubtedly becoming the engines of growth in Asia,” said Nader Naeimi, a Sydney-based strategist at AMP Capital Investors, which oversees about $90 billion. “They are increasingly also becoming strong contributors to overall global growth.”
The Shanghai Composite Index gained 1.9 percent, after falling 1 percent earlier. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index lost 0.4 percent after China’s central bank sold one-year bills at a higher yield for the first time since August, fanning concern the government is moving to tighten liquidity.
Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 Index sank 1 percent as the statistics bureau reported home-loan approvals fell in November by the most in 18 months.
China Trade Data
The Topix Index added 1.4 percent today in Japan, where markets resumed trading after a holiday yesterday. Nippon Yusen K.K. climbed 2.4 percent after China trade figures released at the weekend boosted the earnings prospects for shipping lines.
Futures on the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index lost 0.4 percent. The gauge gained 0.2 percent yesterday as China’s customs bureau reported record imports, adding to evidence that the global economy is gathering pace.
Bets on faster Asian growth helped the region’s equities outperform the rest of the world last year. The MSCI Asia Pacific Index’s 2009 advance outpaced gains of 23 percent by the S&P 500 and 28 percent for Europe’s Dow Jones Stoxx 600 Index.
Stocks in the MSCI gauge are valued at 20 times estimated earnings, compared with 15 times for the S&P 500 and 13 times for the Stoxx 600.
IMF Forecasts
Dominique Strauss-Kahn, the International Monetary Fund’s managing director, said in September that China will play a larger role in shaping a sustainable recovery from the global recession. The IMF has forecast 9 percent growth for China next year and 6.5 percent for India. The Group of Seven economies are forecast by the IMF to expand just 1.25 percent in 2010.
SAIC Motor rose 3.5 percent to 23.16 yuan after the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers said yesterday that the nation’s sales of passenger cars, buses and trucks rose 46 percent to 13.6 million last year.
Chongqing Changan Automobile Co., the Chinese partner of Ford Motor Co. and Mazda Motor Corp., climbed 2 percent to 13.49 yuan. Mazda gained 2.6 percent to 237 yen in Tokyo.
Nippon Yusen advanced 2.4 percent to 339 yen in its first day of trading since China’s customs bureau said on Jan. 10 that exports surged in December and imports rose to a record high. Mitsui O.S.K. Lines Ltd., Japan’s second-largest shipping line, gained 2.5 percent to 580 yen.
Infosys surged 4 percent to 2,587.9 rupees. The company reported profit that beat analysts’ estimates and reversed an earlier forecast for a drop in annual sales.
‘Jittery Days’
“We think economic fundamentals are likely to steadily improve,” said Angus Gluskie, who oversees $300 million at White Funds Management Pty in Sydney. “While we may have some jittery days, we suspect that investors will progressively gain comfort from other profit results and economic data releases.”
Industrial & Commercial Bank sank 2.2 percent to HK$6.15 on concern lending growth will slow. China Construction Bank Corp. lost 2.1 percent to HK$6.42.
The People’s Bank of China sold one-year bills at a yield of 1.84 percent in open-market operations, the first increase since August, according to traders at ICBC and BOC International Holdings Ltd.
The Shanghai Composite lost 2.5 percent last week as the PBOC began to roll back its monetary stimulus by offering three- month bills at a higher rate.
Alcoa Profit
“Policies are the biggest risk facing the market now,” said Wei Wei, an analyst at West China Securities Co. in Shanghai. “Tighter liquidity has caused worries among investors that growth will slow a bit this year and that the flow of fresh funds into equities will dry up.”
Alumina shares slumped 4.9 percent to A$1.96. The company owns 40 percent of a venture with Alcoa that is the world’s largest producer of alumina.
Alcoa, the largest U.S. aluminum producer, reported fourth- quarter profit that trailed analysts’ estimates as the company faced higher energy and currency costs. The company’s shares fell 5.4 percent in after-hours U.S. trading.
Intel Corp. and JPMorgan Chase & Co. are also due to report earnings this week. Combined profit for S&P 500 companies surged 62 percent during the fourth quarter in the first increase since 2007, a Bloomberg analyst survey showed.
BHP Billiton, Australia’s largest oil producer, fell 2.2 percent to A$43.49, as crude-oil futures in New York declined 0.3 percent to $82.26, adding to yesterday’s 0.3 percent drop.
Woodside Petroleum Ltd., the nation’s second-largest oil and gas producer, fell 1.3 percent to A$48.63. Cnooc Ltd., China’s largest offshore oil producer, sank 0.5 percent to HK$13.18 in Hong Kong.
To contact the reporter on this story: Shani Raja in Sydney at sraja4@bloomberg.net.
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