Asian Stocks rose, following the biggest decline in seven
weeks, and the yen weakened as Chinese exports beat estimates. Copper and gold
led metals higher.
The MSCI Asia Pacific Index advanced 0.5 percent at 12:08
p.m. in Tokyo after slumping 1.8 percent yesterday. Japan’s Topix Index added
0.4 percent. Standard & Poor’s 500 Index (SPX) futures rose 0.3 percent.
The yen dropped 0.4 percent versus the greenback and Australia’s dollar
strengthened to a one-week high. Copper climbed 1.3 percent and gold rose for a
second day.
Chinese exports increased 5.1 percent in July, after falling
the prior month, the government reported today. Japan’s central bank refrained
from adding to the unprecedented monetary stimulus and Australian employers cut
10,200 jobs in July compared with analyst estimates for an addition of 5,000.
The U.S. may announce today a pickup in claims for jobless benefits.
“We are constructive on Asian equities,” Ronald Chan, a fund
manager at Manulife Asset Management in Hong Kong, which has about $248
billion, said in a Bloomberg TV interview. China’s government “is putting a
floor at 7 percent growth and it’s likely to end the year at 7.5 percent. That
gives investors a little bit more confidence in the market,” he said.
China, the world’s second-largest economy, expanded 7.5
percent in the second quarter after recording 7.7 percent growth in the
previous three months.
Rate Decision
The Topix gauge rose to 1,159.38, taking its gain this year
to 35 percent. The measure slumped 3.2 percent yesterday, the most since July
29. South Korea’s Kospi Index added 0.5 percent in Seoul, snapping a three-day
drop. Governor Kim Choong Soo and his board left the seven-day repurchase rate
at 2.5 percent, the central bank said today in Seoul, in line with all 16
forecasts in a Bloomberg survey.
Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 Index gained 1 percent, the
Shanghai Composite Index added 0.1 percent and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index rose
0.6 percent. China’s July export growth was more than double the 2 percent pace
forecast in a Bloomberg survey. Imports jumped 11 percent following declines in
the previous two months.
Nikon Corp., Olympus Corp., Telstra Corp. and Rio Tinto Ltd.
are among MSCI Asia Pacific index members reporting earnings today, according
to data compiled by Bloomberg.
The yen weakened to 96.58 per dollar. The Bloomberg Dollar
Index, which measures the greenback against 10 major peers, was little changed
after falling a fourth day yesterday to close at a seven-week low.
Aussie, Won
Australia’s dollar gained 0.7 percent to 90.60 U.S. cents.
The nation’s jobless rate held at 5.7 percent last month as fewer people sought
work.
South Korea’s won strengthened 0.5 percent to 1,113.03 per
dollar after weakening the last two days, while the Thai baht added 0.3 percent
to 31.33.
Initial claims for U.S. unemployment benefits rose to
335,000 last week, after falling to a five-year low of 326,000 in the previous
week, according to the median estimate in a Bloomberg survey before data today.
Fed Bank of Cleveland President Sandra Pianalto said
yesterday that there had been “meaningful improvement” in the labor market and
a scaling back of asset purchases may be warranted if it continues.
Dallas Fed President Richard Fisher said Aug. 5 the central
bank is closer to slowing bond buying and warned investors not to rely on
stimulus. Dennis Lockhart, president of the Atlanta Fed, told Market News
International that should economic growth and job creation pick up as expected,
policy makers should proceed with the “removal” of asset purchases.
Challenging Period
“Equity markets might find the transition period rather
challenging,” Stephen Halmarick, the Sydney-based head of economic and market
research at Colonial First State Global Asset Management, which manages more
than A$160 billion ($147 billion), said by phone. “It’s going to be up to the
economic data to prove the point that the economy is going to be able to stand
on its own two feet without that extra stimulus.”
The yield on 10-year U.S. Treasury notes was little changed
at 2.60 percent today, after falling four basis points yesterday.
Gold gained 0.5 percent to $1,291.40 an ounce, after rising
0.4 percent yesterday. Zinc climbed 1.1 percent in London and aluminum rose 0.7
percent.
To contact the reporters on this story: Richard Frost in
Hong Kong at rfrost4@bloomberg.net; Adam Haigh in Sydney at
ahaigh1@bloomberg.net
