By BLOOMBERG
Asian stocks rose the first time in three days, with the regional gauge heading for the highest close since June 2008, after US consumer sentiment topped estimates and Tokyo Electric Power Co led Japanese utilities higher.
Li & Fung Ltd, a supplier of toys and clothing that gets 63 percent of its sales in the US, gained 2.2 percent in Hong Kong. Osaka Gas Co advanced to the highest in more than five years after the US conditionally approved a Texas liquefied natural gas project partially owned by the energy supplier. Tokyo Electric Power soared 14 percent after the Yomiuri newspaper said it will apply to restart reactors.
The MSCI Asia Pacific Index gained 1.3 percent to 144.28 as of 10:13am in Hong Kong. The measure surged more than 11 percent this year, led by Japanese shares, as US data signaled improvement in the economy and the Bank of Japan and Prime Minister Shinzo took steps to counter deflation.
“The numbers continue to confirm a recovery,” Mark Matthews, head of Asia research at Bank Julius Baer & Co, said in a Bloomberg TV interview in Hong Kong. His firm has US$282 billion (RM852.1 billion) under management. This year’s advance in equities “will continue. It’s a steady improvement in the data and the next step is to see stronger evidence of a consumer recovery. Stocks are not too expensive”.
Gains in 2013 left the regional benchmark gauge trading at 14.5 times estimated earnings on May 17, compared with 15.1 for the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index and 13.5 for the Stoxx Europe 600 Index, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.
Japan’s Topix Index advanced 1.3 percent to 1,269.67, heading for the highest close since August 2008. The gauge climbed 48 percent this year, more than every other major equity index. Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 Index rose 1.2 percent to the highest since June 2008.
Hang Seng advances
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index rose 1.6 percent. The Shanghai Composite and Taiwan’s Taiex Index each added 0.1 percent. South Korea’s Kospi Index and New Zealand’s NZX 50 Index both added 0.2 percent. Singapore’s Straits Times Index was little changed.
Futures on the S&P 500 were little changed today. The measure closed at a record on May 17 as an index of US leading indicators climbed in April and consumer confidence rose to the highest level in almost six years.
The Conference Board’s gauge of the outlook for the next three to six months climbed 0.6 percent last month. The Thomson Reuters/University of Michigan preliminary index of consumer sentiment rose to 83.7, the highest since July 2007.
– BLOOMBERG
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