BL: Most Asian Stocks Fall on Greece Speculation; Banks Advance
By Shani Raja and Jonathan Burgos
March 23 (Bloomberg) -- Most Asian stocks fell amid speculation European Union leaders will fail to agree on an aid package for Greece at a summit this week. Banks advanced.
Poly Real Estate Group Co. fell 1.9 percent in Shanghai on concern local governments in China are stepping up measures to curb land supply. Mitsui Fudosan Co. led Japanese developers lower for a third day as a government report last week showed land prices dropped the most in at least 36 years. Australia & New Zealand Banking Group Ltd. rose 3 percent in Sydney after saying it will add branches in Taiwan.
Eight stocks declined for every seven that rose in the MSCI Asia Pacific Index, which gained 0.1 percent to 124.33 as of 9:18 p.m. in Tokyo. The gauge lost 0.5 percent yesterday after India raised interest rates on March 19 to curb inflation, fueling concern a withdrawal of stimulus policies will stifle the global recovery. European Central Bank President Jean-Claude Trichet yesterday spoke out against offering the low-interest loans for which the Greek government has pressed.
“Concerns about policy tightening and continuing worries that Greece won’t get aid from the EU are affecting equity markets,” said Pearlyn Wong, Singapore-based investment analyst at Bank Julius Baer Co., which manages about $350 billion. “We still see some upside for Asia but investors have to be selective.”
In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng Index increased 0.3 percent, with Bank of China Ltd. rising 1.8 percent before an earnings announcement. China Telecom Corp. jumped 5.1 percent on brokerage upgrades. Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 Index advanced 0.9 percent and South Korea’s Kospi Index gained 0.6 percent.
Healthcare Legislation
The Nikkei 225 Stock Average lost 0.5 percent in Japan, where markets were closed yesterday for a national holiday. China’s Shanghai Composite Index slumped 0.7 percent.
Futures on the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index rose 0.2 percent. The gauge climbed 0.5 percent yesterday, with drugmakers advancing after the House of Representatives approved legislation that will ensure tens of millions of uninsured Americans will get medical coverage.
In Shanghai, Chinese real-estate companies declined after the Oriental Morning Post said Shanghai may require faster payments from developers for land purchases. Poly Real Estate fell 1.9 percent to 20.20 yuan, while Gemdale Corp. lost 2.4 percent to 13.60 yuan.
Mitsui Fudosan, Japan’s top property developer, sank 3.3 percent to 1,532 yen, while its closest rival, Mitsubishi Estate Co., retreated 1.5 percent to 1,425 yen.
Lack of Growth
An index of developers on the Topix index slumped 5.8 percent in the past three days. Japanese commercial land prices fell 6.1 percent in 2009 to the lowest level since comparable data was first collected in 1974, according to a government report on March 18.
“I’m not inclined to be overweight on Japanese real-estate stocks because of their lack of growth prospects,” said Hideo Arimura, a senior fund manager at Mizuho Asset Management Co., which oversees the equivalent of $36 billion in Tokyo.
ANZ Banking rose 3 percent to A$25.45 after the head of its Asia-Pacific operations said the lender plans to add as many as nine branches in Taiwan over the next two years.
The bank has 21 branches in the country after acquiring Royal Bank of Scotland Group Plc’s retail, commercial and institutional businesses there, Alex Thursby, ANZ’s Asia Pacific, Europe and Americas chief executive officer, told reporters in a briefing in Hong Kong yesterday.
Banks Advance
Rival National Australia Bank Ltd. gained 2.4 percent to A$27.36. Commonwealth Bank of Australia, the nation’s largest lender by market value, increased 1.7 percent to A$56.70.
Banks also rose after Richard X. Bove at Rochdale Securities LLC advised buying Citigroup Inc. shares, which jumped 3.6 percent in New York trading. In Tokyo, Fukuoka Financial Group Inc. climbed 2.2 percent to 369 yen after the Japanese lender was raised to “buy” from “neutral” at Nomura Holdings Inc.
Bank of China, the country’s third-largest lender by market value, advanced 1.8 percent to HK$4.04. The bank reported 2009 net income of 81.1 billion yuan after Hong Kong’s stock market closed. That beat the 78.7 billion yuan average estimate of 15 analysts compiled by Bloomberg.
China Telecom, the country’s biggest fixed-line carrier, jumped 5.1 percent to HK$3.74. HSBC Holdings Plc upgraded the stock to “neutral” from “underweight” and Kim Eng Securities raised it to “buy” from “hold.” China Telecom said yesterday earnings will rebound in 2010, even as it reported a 34 percent decline in full-year profit.
‘Bullish Sentiment’
“Bullish investor sentiment is reflecting a further improvement in the global economy and growth in corporate earnings” in 2010, said Fumiyuki Nakanishi, a strategist at Tokyo-based SMBC Friend Securities Co.
The MSCI Asia Pacific Index rose 1.4 percent last week after the U.S. Federal Reserve pledged to keep borrowing costs near zero for an “extended period” and as the Bank of Japan expanded a bank-loan program. Stocks in the gauge trade at 18.9 times estimated earnings, compared with 15.1 times for the MSCI World Index of 23 developed nations.
In Sydney, BHP Billiton Ltd., the world’s largest mining company, increased 1.1 percent to A$43.06. Rio Tinto Group, the world’s third-biggest mining company, gained 0.9 percent to A$75.72.
Crude oil and copper prices gained for the first time in three sessions in New York yesterday, with oil for May delivery rising 0.8 percent and copper futures advancing 0.2 percent.
Cnooc Ltd., China’s largest offshore oil producer, gained 0.5 percent to HK$12.38 in Hong Kong. Woodside Petroleum Ltd., Australia’s second-biggest oil and gas producer, advanced 1.5 percent to A$47.20.
In Tokyo, Toshiba Corp. surged 3.6 percent to 466 yen. The company and Bill Gates’s TerraPower will collaborate on developing a nuclear reactor capable of operating for decades without being refueled, the Nikkei reported today, without disclosing a source for the information.
To contact the reporters for this story: Shani Raja in Sydney at sraja4@bloomberg.net; Jonathan Burgos in Singapore at jburgos4@bloomberg.net.
Last Updated: March 23, 2010 06:14 EDT
