Agree Tammy,Copper could be above 2.00 usd/lb after Easter.Just...

Agree Tammy,

Copper could be above 2.00 usd/lb after Easter.

Just few reading here as Asia market start rising on Stimulus Hopes.


Asian Stocks Rise on Stimulus Hopes, Japanese Machinery Orders

By Jonathan Burgos and Masaki Kondo

April 9 (Bloomberg) -- Asian stocks rose for the first time in three days as Japan’s ruling party proposed $154 billion of extra spending and the country’s machinery orders unexpectedly increased. U.S. futures advanced.

Komatsu Ltd., the world’s No. 2 maker of earthmoving equipment, jumped 6.4 percent in Tokyo as a document obtained by Bloomberg News said Japan’s Liberal Democratic Party will unveil extra stimulus to revive the world’s No. 2 economy. Denso Corp., which supplies parts to General Motors Corp., climbed 4.4 percent as U.S. automakers said the Treasury will guarantee payments to suppliers. Cnooc Ltd., China’s largest offshore oil producer, added 2.4 percent after crude-oil prices rose.

“Spring has finally come to the market,” said Yoshihiro Ito, senior strategist at Okasan Asset Management Co., which oversees about $9.3 billion. “We’ve seen indicators that suggest the economy is bottoming out. People’s view on the economic outlook is gradually turning optimistic and this is leading to the rebound in the equity market.”

The MSCI Asia Pacific Index rose 2.5 percent to 86.91 at 1:25 p.m. in Tokyo, snapping a two-day, 2.6 percent decline. The gauge has fallen 3 percent this year, extending last year’s record 43 percent slump as the deepening global recession pummeled corporate profits.

Japan’s Nikkei 225 Stock Average jumped 3 percent to 8,848.44. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index gained 2.3 percent. Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 Index rose 0.6 percent, paring an earlier 1.5 percent gain after the country’s unemployment rate jumped the most in 18 years in March. All markets in Asia advanced except Vietnam.

Bigger Stimulus

Brokerage upgrades drove Acer Inc., the world’s second- largest notebook computer supplier, up by 5.2 percent in Taipei, and Sharp Corp., Japan’s largest maker of liquid-crystal displays, by 8.5 percent in Tokyo. Hynix Semiconductor Inc., the world’s second-largest computer-memory maker, declined 2.9 percent in Seoul on speculation it will sell new shares.

Futures on the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index added 0.8 percent as the New York Times reported all of the 19 U.S. banks that have been subject to government stress tests to determine their viability will pass the review. The S&P 500 rose 1.2 percent in New York yesterday as the Treasury said it may give funds to life insurers.

The MSCI Asia Pacific Index has climbed 22 percent from a five-year low reached on March 9 as governments from the U.S. to Japan widened measures to unfreeze credit markets and ease the global recession. Almost two-thirds of equities in the region have risen in the year to yesterday, according to Bloomberg data.

Japan’s LDP will propose the government implement a 15.4 trillion ($154 billion) stimulus package to help revive the economy, according to a document obtained by Bloomberg News. Prime Minister Taro Aso indicated this week he wanted to spend at least 10 trillion yen.

Financial Aid

“As signs of an economic recovery come into view, additional support measures will boost investor confidence,” Mitsushige Akino, who oversees the equivalent of $615 million at Tokyo-based Ichiyoshi Investment Management Co., said in an interview with Bloomberg Television.

Komatsu added 6.4 percent to 1,240 yen. Orders for Japanese machinery, an indicator of capital investment in the next three to six months, climbed 1.4 percent in February from January, the Cabinet Office said today in Tokyo. The median estimate of 28 economists surveyed by Bloomberg was for a 6.9 percent drop.

The report added to signs the global recession might be easing. Even so, Australia’s jobless rate rose to a five-year high of 5.7 percent, the statistics bureau said today. The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development said on March 27 its 30 members are likely to see their economies contract by 4.2 percent this year.

Oil, Metals

Asian economies may be the first to emerge from the global crisis because the region’s banks hold fewer toxic assets than lenders elsewhere, said Zhao Xiaoyu, vice president of the Asian Development Bank, in an interview in Tokyo yesterday.

Denso, the world’s largest listed auto-parts maker, climbed 4.4 percent to 2,275 yen. Detroit-based General Motors and Chrysler LLC said yesterday that they will get financial aid from the U.S. Treasury to guarantee payments to their parts suppliers.

Toyota Motor Corp., which owns 23 percent of Denso, gained 2.7 percent to 3,850 yen in Tokyo. Takata Corp., a Japanese seatbelt maker that supplies GM, jumped 10 percent to 998 yen. Truck manufacturer Isuzu Motors Ltd., another GM supplier, advanced 7.9 percent to 136 yen.

Cnooc rose 2.4 percent to HK$8.06 in Hong Kong. BHP Billiton Ltd., the world’s biggest mining company and Australia’s biggest oil producer, added 1 percent to A$32.11.

A measure of six metals rose 0.7 percent in London yesterday, its second day of gains. Oil futures in New York added 1.7 percent to $50.20 a barrel in after-hours trading.

Hynix Share Sale?

Acer climbed 5.2 percent to NT$58.70 in Taipei, after Macquarie Group Ltd. raised the stock to “neutral” from “underperform,” citing the company’s release of new laptops.

Sharp jumped 8.5 percent to 882 yen in Tokyo after HSBC Holdings Plc upgraded the stock to “overweight” from “underweight” with a share-price target of 1,000 yen. The stock slumped 6.1 percent yesterday after the company reported a loss of 130 billion yen in the year ended March 31.

Hynix Semiconductor declined 2.9 percent to 13,600 won in Seoul. The Korea Economic Daily reported the company will sell new shares and some assets to raise a total of 1.2 trillion won ($895 million).

China Pharmaceutical Group Ltd. jumped 11 percent to HK$3.79. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. raised its share-price target by 60 percent to HK$4.10 after the company reported higher earnings.

To contact the reporter for this story: Jonathan Burgos in Singapore at [email protected]; Masaki Kondo in Tokyo at [email protected].