Asian stocks rose, sending the regional benchmark to its biggest gain in five days, as Japanese machinery orders rose more than expected and Intel predicted stronger than estimated sales, boosting chipmakers. Shares also advanced as the US signaled it will act to shore up the global recovery.
Hynix, the world's second-largest maker of computer memory chips, increased 2.7 per cent in Seoul. Fanuc, Japan's No.1 maker of industrial robots, gained 2.3 per cent. Toyota, the world's biggest automaker that counts North America as its largest market, rose 0.9 per cent.
The MSCI Asia Pacific Index rose 0.7 per cent 129.60 in Tokyo, with about five stocks advancing for each that fell. The gauge has risen 2.6 per cent this month on expectation that central banks around the world will increase measures to boost economic growth.
“The economy is on course for recovery in the medium-and long-term, helped by global monetary easing,” said Hiroichi Nishi, an equities manager in Tokyo at Nikko Cordial Securities. “As there's an excess of money, declines in stocks will be limited.”
The S&P/ASX 200 Index gained 0.5 per cent in Sydney after Australian consumer confidence rebounded in October, according to a Westpac and Melbourne Institute survey today.
Japan's Nikkei 225 Stock Average climbed 0.9 per cent and the broader Topix index increased 0.7 per cent. The Kospi Index rose 0.2 per cent in Seoul.
Futures on the Standard & Poor's 500 Index were little changed in New York. Yesterday the gauge rose 0.4 per cent to 1169.77 after minutes of the Federal Reserve's meeting last month showed the central bank was prepared to buy more government debt to stabilize the recovery.
Easing 'before long'
Fed policy makers last month were prepared to ease monetary policy “before long” and focused on purchases of Treasury securities and boosting inflation expectations as ways to add stimulus, minutes of the Sept. 21 meeting showed.
Hynix increased 2.7 per cent to 23,200 won in Seoul. Advantest, the world's biggest maker of memory-chip testers, climbed 0.2 per cent to 1678 yen in Tokyo. Elpida Memory, a maker of dynamic random access memory products, added 0.6 per cent to 891 yen.
Intel's revenue for the fourth quarter period will be $US11.4 billion, plus or minus $US400 million, Santa Clara, California-based chipmaker said yesterday in a statement. That compares with an average projection of $US11.3 billion, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.
Fanuc, Japan's No.1 maker of industrial robots, gained 2.3 per cent to 11,010 yen as Japan's machinery orders increased more than economists expected in August. Komatsu, a maker of heavy machinery, climbed 2.2 per cent to 1935 yen.
Japanese machinery orders rose 10.1 per cent in August from July, when they increased 8.8 per cent, the Cabinet Office said today in Tokyo. The median forecast of 28 economists surveyed by Bloomberg News was for a 3.9 per cent decline. The data is an indicator of business investment in three to six months.