Economic Calendar

Monday, November 14, 2011

Asia Stocks, Copper Rise on Japan GDP

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By Lynn Thomasson - Nov 14, 2011 9:22 AM GMT+0700

Nov. 14 (Bloomberg) -- Marc Faber, publisher of the Gloom, Boom and Doom Report," talks about the outlook for global stock markets. Faber also discusses Europe's sovereign debt crisis, the U.S. economy and Federal Reserve monetary policy. He speaks from Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, with Susan Li on Bloomberg Television's "First Up."(Source: Bloomberg)

Nov. 14 (Bloomberg) -- Curtis Freeze, founder of Honolulu-based Prospect Asset Management Inc., talks about Japan stocks and the outlook for the nation's economy. Japan’s economy expanded for the first time in four quarters, recovering from the record March earthquake as companies bolstered production and exports rose. Freeze speaks from Tokyo with Susan Li on Bloomberg Television's "First Up." (Source: Bloomberg)


Asian stocks and copper climbed for a second day after Japan’s economy grew for the first time in a year and the appointment of new governments in Greece and Italy damped concern Europe’s debt crisis will worsen. Treasuries fell.

The MSCI Asia Pacific Index climbed 1.3 percent as of 11:08 a.m. in Tokyo, after losing 2.4 percent last week. Standard & Poor’s 500 Index futures advanced 0.5 percent. The Nikkei 225 Stock Average gained 1.2 percent, poised for the biggest advance in a week. Copper gained as much as 2.1 percent and crude oil reached $99.69 a barrel, the highest level since July 26. The euro strengthened 0.1 percent to $1.3766.

“The situation in Greece has dramatically improved with the appointment of a unity government out there, and Italy looks like it’s getting close to a resolution,” said Angus Gluskie, who manages more than $350 million at White Funds Management in Sydney. “Two of the largest concerns of the market are being partially taken off the table.”

Japan’s gross domestic product grew an annualized 6.0 percent in the last quarter, the government said today. Italian President Giorgio Napolitano offered Mario Monti, former European Union competition commissioner, the prime minister post yesterday after Silvio Berlusconi resigned. Economic data today may show industrial output in the euro zone fell in September by the most since February 2009, while India’s inflation eased, based on the median estimates in Bloomberg surveys.

The rally in Asian stocks today pared the MSCI Asia Pacific Index’s 2011 loss to 14 percent. More than five stocks rose every one that fell among the benchmark gauge’s 1,014 constituents. Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 Index gained 0.7 percent, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index climbed 2.4 percent and South Korea’s Kospi Index rose 2.1 percent.

Sumitomo Mitsui, Hynix

Japan’s Nikkei 225 (NKY) was poised for its first back-to-back advance in two weeks. Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group, Inc., the nation’s second-largest lender by market value, rose 3 percent. Nippon Sheet Glass Co., which counts Europe as its biggest market, jumped 4.3 percent.

Hynix Semiconductor Inc., the world’s second-largest computer-memory chipmaker, rallied 5.3 percent in Seoul. Major shareholders accepted SK Telecom Co.’s bid to buy 20 percent of the company, bringing them a step closer to unloading the stake after three failures in the past two years.

Treasuries declined, pushing 10-year note yields up seven basis points to 2.13 percent. The 2 percent security maturing in November 2021 fell 22/32, or $6.88 per $1,000 face amount, to 98 25/32.

Copper prices in London rose for a second day, reaching as high as $7,799 a metric ton. Rubber futures gained as much as 5.2 percent.

The cost of protecting Asia-Pacific corporate and sovereign bonds from default fell, according to traders of credit-default swaps. The Markit iTraxx Australia index tumbled 11 basis points to 176 basis points as of 11:13 a.m. in Sydney, according to Deutsche Bank AG. That’s on course for the biggest daily drop since Oct. 27 and the lowest close since Nov. 4, according to data provider CMA.

To contact the reporter on this story: Lynn Thomasson in Hong Kong at lthomasson@bloomberg.net.

To contact the editor responsible for this story: James Regan at jregan19@bloomberg.net



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