By Chris Oliver
HONG KONG (MarketWatch) -- Most Asian stock indexes ended higher
Friday, with shares of resource-related companies advancing on a
surge in crude-oil and gold prices. In Japan, robust earnings from
Nissan Motor Co. offset investors' worries about the strong
yen.
Japan's Nikkei Stock Average rose 2.9%, its largest percentage
increase since June 3. That followed a 2.2% gain Thursday.
Also gaining were Australia's S&P/ASX 200, up 1.2%; China's
Shanghai Composite Index, up 1.4%; and Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index,
up 1.4%.
South Korea's Kospi Composite and New Zealand's NZX-50 both lost
0.2%.
Markets in Singapore, India and Malaysia were closed for public
holidays.
Helping to bolster sentiment in Japan, Nissan (NSANY) released
stellar quarterly results and raised its full-year net-profit
forecast to 270 billion yen from ¥150 billion. Shares of the
auto maker ended 6% higher.
"There were already hopes that the earnings would be good, and
the figures turned out even better than expected," said Mitsushige
Akino, chief fund manager at Ichiyoshi Investment Management. The
broader market's rise sparked a general rebound in auto shares
driven by short-term investors, he said. Toyota Motor added 1.9%,
while Honda Motor (HMC) gained 4.2%.
Response to the Fed
Investors' appetite for risky assets was whetted by Thursday's
2% rise in the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJI). The U.S.
blue-chip index reached its highest closing level since September
2008, partly in response to the Federal Reserve's decision
Wednesday to launch a second round of quantitative easing, dubbed
QE2, aimed at kick-starting the U.S. economy.
"There have been large responses [to the Fed's move] in all the
relevant markets: yields lower, spreads tighter, stocks stronger,
commodities higher and dollar weaker," said Greg Gibbs, currency
strategist at RBS in Sydney.
Strategists in Asia, however, warned that countries in the
region may brace themselves against the influx of money stemming
from the Fed's actions. China is likely to tighten monetary policy
before the end of the year, Standard Chartered said, as concerns
over rising property prices continue to grow.
"The leadership still has some way to go in achieving its
ultimate objective of stabilizing housing prices, particularly in
the face of QE2 in the U.S. and widespread fear of further
liquidity inflow," according to a research note from Standard
Chartered.
Tokyo stocks showed little response to the Bank of Japan's
decision to stand pat on its easy monetary policy. Sony Corp. was
up 2.7% and Canon Inc. up 3.3%.
Bucking Japan's broader market, Resona Holdings Inc. fell 16.3%
on a report that it was considering raising several hundred billion
yen through a public stock offering. Resona confirmed this after
the market closed, putting the figure at up to ¥600 billion
($7.44 billion).
Commodity-related plays rallied across the region, with Zijin
Mining up 3.5% and Shandong Gold-Mining up 4% in China; Sumitomo
Metal Mining up 6.1% and Inpex up 2.3% in Tokyo; and BHP Billiton
up 3.6%, Rio Tinto (RIO) up 4.8% and Woodside up 1.9% in
Sydney.
Gold soared Thursday, with December futures setting a record
intraday high of $1,393.40 in after-hours trading in New York. The
rally took a breather in Asia's spot market, as gold recently
slipped to $1,384.20 per troy ounce, down $8.70 from its New York
close Thursday.
In Sydney, Macquarie jumped 3.8%, perhaps taking strength from
its U.S. financial peers, although other banks were little changed,
with Westpac up less than 0.1%.
HSBC Holdings , up 3.1%, led financial firms higher in Hong
Kong. The shares were boosted by news that the bank sold its train
leasing unit for 2.1 billion pounds ($3.4 billion).
Hang Lung Properties fell 6.5% after saying it will raise
HK$10.90 billion ($1.41 billion) from a share sale to fund
expansion in China.
After recent outperformance, auto makers helped pull Seoul down,
with Hyundai Motor off 2.4%. Samsung Electronics and LG Display
(LPL) both rose, though -- by 1.7% and 0.8%, respectively -- on a
report that the two companies had received approval from the
Chinese government to set up liquid-crystal-display plants.
Elsewhere in the region, Taiwan's Taiex was up 1.1%, while
Indonesian shares rose 0.7% and Thai shares added 1%. Philippine
shares were off 1.1%.
In foreign-exchange markets, the U.S. dollar got some respite as
risk appetite improved.
Mike Jones, currency strategist at the Bank of New Zealand, said
the continuation of the U.S. dollar's slide will depend on the
nonfarm payrolls report.
"We suspect a weaker number will see markets speculate on QE3,
dragging the dollar lower," he said.
The outcome of the Bank of Japan's board meeting pushed the yen
up briefly against the dollar, but it quickly settled into its
earlier narrow range.
The euro was buying $1.4217 against the dollar, from $1.4215
late Thursday in New York, and at ¥114.34 against the yen,
from ¥114.69. The dollar was fetching ¥80.69, from
¥80.70.
December Nymex crude-oil futures fell 10 cents to $86.39 a
barrel on Globex after hitting a new six-month high of $86.83
Thursday.
Shri Navaratnam in Singapore contributed to this report.