March 26 (Bloomberg) -- Asian resources stocks rose, led by BHP Billiton after oil prices climbed to a three-month high and Deutsche Bank AG increased its rating on Cnooc Ltd.

``Resources stocks make up a significant part of the market,'' said Hans Kunnen, who helps manage $70 billion at Colonial First State Investment Management Australia Ltd. in Sydney. ``In the absence of overarching economic or earnings news, they tend to rise in line with commodities prices, like oil.''

Tokyo Electric Power Co. led Japanese utilities lower after the government tightened rules on reporting nuclear accidents. Posco fell after Arcelor Mittal, the world's biggest steelmaker, denied speculation it plans to make an offer for the company.

The Morgan Stanley Capital International Asia-Pacific Index was little changed at 145.99 as of 7:51 p.m. in Tokyo. A measure of energy stocks posted the biggest gain among 10 industry groups and was set to close at the highest since Feb. 26.

Japan's Nikkei 225 Stock Average added 0.2 percent while the Topix index was little changed. Other markets in the region rose, except in Singapore, India, the Philippines and Sri Lanka.

China's Shanghai and Shenzhen 300 Index climbed 1.8 percent, the most in the region, to a new high. China Minsheng Banking Corp. and China United Telecommunications Corp. led gains on speculation the government will allow foreign investors to buy another $6 billion of local-currency stocks.-

Oil Shares Gain

BHP, the world's biggest mining company that gets a fifth of its sales from oil, gained 2.9 percent to A$30.04. Woodside Petroleum Ltd., Australia's second-biggest oil producer, rose 3.4 percent to A$38.23. PetroChina Co., China's largest oil explorer, rose 1.8 percent to HK$8.94 in Hong Kong.

Crude oil rose 1 percent to $62.28 in New York on March 23, the highest close for the front-month oil contract since Dec. 22, on concern Iran's capture of 15 British naval personnel will heighten tension in the Middle East. Oil was recently at $62.68 in after-hours trading.

``From a long-term perspective, we still see a lot of demand coming through from China and India,'' said Grace Tam, a Hong Kong-based associate of investment services at JF Asset Management Ltd., which has $88 billion of assets in Asia. ``That's why we shouldn't take all the oil companies out of our portfolios.''

Cnooc, China's largest offshore oil explorer, gained 0.9 percent to HK$6.53 in Hong Kong. Deutsche Bank raised its recommendation on the stock to ``buy'' from ``hold'' on expectation of higher oil prices, production volumes and acquisitions.

MSCI's Asian benchmark rallied 3.3 percent last week, the first weekly gain since a rout that began last month wiped $3.3 trillion from the value of global markets.

Concern Renewed

Tokyo Electric, Japan's No. 1 power producer, slid 2.1 percent to 4,240 yen. Kansai Electric Power Co., the second largest, fell 2.9 percent to 3,710 yen. Chubu Electric Power Co. declined 3.4 percent to 4,320 yen.

Chubu Electric, Tokyo Electric and Tohoku Electric Power Co. admitted this month they failed to report accidents during routine shutdowns over the past three decades.

Tokyo Electric said on March 22 an accident that may have occurred at its Fukushima Daiichi plant in 1978 could have caused a nuclear chain reaction. Hokuriku Electric Power Co. was ordered to halt operations at its Shika No. 1 reactor on March 15 after the company said it covered up an accident eight years ago.

``Successive scandals involving power producers have been coming to light,'' said Hideyuki Ookoshi, who oversees $365 million at Chiba-Gin Asset Management Co. in Tokyo. ``There's concern more scandals will emerge, and that's causing the shares to be sold off.''

Overseas Investors

Posco, the world's third-biggest steelmaker, dropped 1.8 percent to 374,000 won. Chief Executive Lakshmi Mittal said on March 24 that he was ``not aware'' of any plan to buy Posco, dismissing the talk as ``all rumors.'' Posco shares climbed 20 percent this year amid speculation of a takeover.

China Minsheng Banking, the nation's fastest growing bank, rose 2.1 percent to 11.88 yuan. China United, which controls the nation's second-largest mobile-phone operator, rose 2.3 percent to 5.40 yuan. Baoshan Iron & Steel Co., China's biggest steelmaker, added 3.2 percent to 9.39 yuan.

China may allow qualified foreign institutional investors to buy another $6 billion of local-currency stocks, the China Daily reported, citing an unidentified financial industry official.

The new quota is currently being discussed and awaiting approval by the Chinese government, the Beijing-based English- language newspaper said. The currency quota is $10 billion.

Consumer Lenders

Sanyo Electric Credit Co., a Japanese leasing company, rose by its exchange-imposed daily limit of 20 percent to 2,410 yen, with 55 million orders to buy the stock left unfulfilled. Aiful Corp., Japan's biggest consumer lender by revenue, jumped 5 percent to 3,280 yen.

Sanyo Electric agreed to be acquired by General Electric Capital Corp., sparking speculation other Japanese consumer lenders will become takeover targets.

Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corp., China's biggest chipmaker, surged 11 percent to HK$1.14 in Hong Kong. The company may try to raise as much as $500 million by selling a stake in itself to strategic investors, the Financial Times reported today, without saying where it got the information.

The Shanghai-based chipmaker has hired Deutsche Bank and Morgan Stanley to find potential buyers, the newspaper said. Semiconductor Manufacturing said in January it was approached by private equity firms, without giving details.

Aiful Corp. (8515 JT)
BHP Billiton (BHP AU)
Baoshan Iron & Steel Co. (600019 CH)
Cnooc Ltd. (883 HK)
China Minsheng Banking Corp. (600016 CH)
China United Telecommunications Corp. (600050 CH)
Chubu Electric Power Co. (9502 JT)
Hokuriku Electric Power Co. (9505 JT)
Kansai Electric Power Co. (9503 JT)
Posco (005490 KS)
PetroChina Co. (857 HK)
Sanyo Electric Credit Co. (8565 JT)
Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corp. (981 HK)
Tokyo Electric Power Co. (9501 JT)
Tohoku Electric Power Co. (9506 JT)
Woodside Petroleum Ltd. (WPL AU)

To contact the reporter for this story: Stuart Kelly in Sydney skelly22@bloomberg.net

Last Updated: March 26, 2007 06:53 EDT