By Kana Nishizawa and Yoshiaki Nohara - Feb 6, 2012 7:37 AM GMT+0700
Feb. 6 (Bloomberg) -- Bill Belchere, regional head of equity research at Mirae Asset Securities in Hong Kong, talks about the outlook for U.S. and Asia stocks, Europe's debt crisis and his investment strategy. Belchere speaks with Susan Li on Bloomberg Television's "First Up." (Source: Bloomberg)
Asian stocks rose, with a regional benchmark index set for its highest close in five months, after U.S. jobs data beat estimates and fueled optimism the world’s largest economy is recovering, boosting the earnings outlook for Asian exporters.
Nikon Corp. (7731), a maker of cameras and lenses that gets more than a quarter of its revenue from North America, jumped 10 percent in Tokyo after raising its full-year operating profit forecast. Panasonic Corp. (6752), a Japanese electronics company that receives almost half its sales outside the country, rose 6.7 percent. BHP Billiton Ltd., the world’s No. 1 mining company, gained 1.6 percent in Sydney after commodity prices increased.
“There’s a modestly constructive outlook for share markets,” said Andrew Pease, Sydney-based chief investment strategist for the Asia-Pacific region at Russell Investment Group, which manages about $150 billion. “In the second half of last year, talk was all about whether the U.S. will go back into a recession. Now I think talk will be about what will be the strength of the recovery in the U.S. That’s an important shift in the balance of risk.”
The MSCI Asia Pacific Index (MXAP) climbed 0.8 percent to 125.36 as of 9:35 a.m. in Tokyo, headed for its highest close since Sept. 1. Japan’s Nikkei 225 Stock Average gained 1.2 percent, while the broader Topix Index advanced 1.3 percent. Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 Index increased 1.2 percent. South Korea’s Kospi Index climbed 0.8 percent.
To contact the reporters on this story: Kana Nishizawa in Hong Kong at knishizawa5@bloomberg.net; Yoshiaki Nohara in Tokyo at ynohara1@bloomberg.net
To contact the editor responsible for this story: Nick Gentle at ngentle2@bloomberg.net
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