Asian Stocks Swing Between Gains, Losses on Europe Summit, Japan Earnings

By Jonathan Burgos - Jan 30, 2012 8:32 AM GMT+0700
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The MSCI Asia Pacific Index decreased 0.2 percent to 122.74 as of 9:47 a.m. in Tokyo, heading for its first drop in four days. Photographer: Kiyoshi Ota/Bloomberg

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Jan. 30 (Bloomberg) -- Vasu Menon, vice-president of wealth management at Oversea-Chinese Banking Corp., talks about U.S. and Asian stocks. Menon also discusses Europe's sovereign debt crisis, the U.S. economy, and People's Bank of China monetary policy. He speaks from Singapore with Susan Li on Bloomberg Television's "First Up." (Source: Bloomberg)

Asian stocks swung between gains and losses ahead of a European summit on the region’s debt crisis and after the U.S. economy expanded less than forecast in the fourth quarter.

James Hardie Industries SE (JHX), a building materials supplier that counts the U.S. as its biggest market, fell 1.5 percent in Sydney. Mitsubishi Electric Corp., a maker of industrial machinery and home appliances, slumped 12 percent in Tokyo after admitting it overcharged the government for some defense and aerospace contracts. Advantest Corp., a maker of memory-chip testers, jumped 9.8 percent after doubling its second-half dividend payout.

The MSCI Asia Pacific Index (MXAP) slipped 0.1 percent to 122.95 as of 10:31 a.m. in Tokyo, having swung between gains and losses at least three times. The measure has risen the past six weeks, the longest streak since a seven-week stretch that ended Oct. 15, 2010, amid bets China will ease lending curbs and signs the U.S. economy is improving and Europe is containing the region’s debts crisis.

“I don’t expect the rally to be sustainable,” said Pauline Dan, who helps oversee $480 million as chief investment officer at Samsung Asset Management in Hong Kong. “There will still be volatility. I don’t think we’ve seen the worst of the European situation.”

European Union leaders gather today for their first summit of 2012 as a deteriorating economy and struggle to complete a Greek debt writeoff risk sidetracking efforts to stamp out the financial crisis.

To contact the reporter on this story: Jonathan Burgos in Singapore at jburgos4@bloomberg.net

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Nick Gentle at ngentle2@bloomberg.net