April 24 (Bloomberg) -- Asian stocks were little changed as concern higher oil prices will curb demand for exports countered better-than-expected earnings from Inpex Holdings Inc., Samsung Heavy Industries Co. and Compal Electronics Inc.

Toyota Motor Corp. and Hynix Semiconductor Inc. fell on concern the jump in oil prices will boost costs and hurt sales. Inpex gained after the company reported earnings that topped its own forecast, while Samsung Heavy led South Korean shipbuilders higher after reporting a record profit increase. Compal, the world's second-largest maker of laptops, advanced after net income increased for the first time in a year.

``Rising oil prices will corrode manufacturers' earnings,'' said Sam Hsieh, who helps oversee $275 million as head of research at Fuh-Hwa Investment Trust Co. in Taiwan. ``Companies that can deliver solid corporate earnings will attract investors' attention, especially when the market is directionless.''

The Morgan Stanley Capital International Asia-Pacific Index, which last week reached a record, was steady after two days of gains. China Life Insurance Co. led China's CSI 300 Index to a high after the company said it posted a first-quarter profit of $1.2 billion and the Hong Kong Economic Journal newspaper reported it may sell a stake to Citigroup Inc.

Benchmarks also advanced in India, Pakistan, South Korea, Taiwan and Thailand. Hong Kong and Japan were little changed, while elsewhere markets fell.

The MSCI index was up 0.06 at 147.73 as of 4:08 p.m. in Tokyo. A measure of energy stocks gained 1.2 percent, the biggest advance among 10 industry groups. Japan's Nikkei 225 Stock Average closed down less than 0.1 percent to 17,451.77, after earlier climbing as much as 0.3 percent.

`Bad News'

Toyota, which overtook General Motors Corp. to become the world's largest automaker in the first quarter, lost 0.5 percent to 7,370 yen. Hynix, the second-biggest computer memory chipmaker, dropped 1.9 percent to 31,750 won.

Crude oil for June delivery in New York has jumped 6.6 percent in the past two days, topping $65 a barrel for the first time in three weeks. Oil prices are climbing on concern shipments from Nigeria, Africa's biggest producer, will be disrupted as complaints about the country's presidential election spawn more violence.

``Higher energy prices are bad news for Asia's exporters as it hits U.S. consumers in the pocket and cuts their spending power,'' said Leslie Phang, who helps manage about $1 billion at Commonwealth Private Bank in Singapore. ``U.S. consumers may put off buying new clothes or that new flat-panel TV and that'll hit Asia's exporters.''

Hard Times

Hyundai Motor Co., South Korea's largest automaker, declined 1.7 percent to 62,000 won. Hon Hai Precision Industry Co., Taiwan's largest electronics exporter, slid 0.5 percent to NT$221.

Chemicals makers also declined on concern about higher oil costs, with Japan's Topix Chemicals Index dropping 1.3 percent, the biggest loss among the 33 industry groups that make up the broader measure. Sumitomo Chemical Co. fell 1.7 percent to 789 yen, while Mitsui Chemicals Inc. slid 2.3 percent to 1,001 yen.

``Chemical companies may have a hard time for a while as raw material costs are rising but the companies are unable to increase their product prices,'' said Haruo Otsuka, who oversees $870 million at Toyota Asset Management Co. in Tokyo.

`Room to Rise'

Inpex, Japan's largest oil explorer, jumped 3.5 percent to 1.01 million yen. Net income for the year ended March was estimated at 165 billion yen ($1.39 billion), the company said yesterday after the close of trading. That's 21 percent higher than the 136 billion yen profit it predicted in February.

Cnooc Ltd., China's largest offshore oil explorer, rose 0.3 percent to HK$6.82. PTT Pcl, Thailand's largest energy company, climbed 1 percent to 212 baht. Oil & Natural Gas Corp., India's largest energy company, added 0.8percent to 940.3 rupees.

``Commodity shares still have room to rise as demand in China will remain strong,'' said Makoto Sakuma, a Tokyo-based fund manager at Asahi Life Investment Co., which manages $3.3 billion of Japanese equities.

Samsung Heavy, the world's second-largest shipbuilder, jumped 9.2 percent to 30,300 won. First-quarter profit jumped to 90.2 billion won ($97 million) from 15.3 billion won a year earlier, the company said today, as it built more vessels at higher prices. That beat the 64.9 billion won forecast by analysts in a Bloomberg survey.

Orient Overseas (International) Ltd., operator of Asia's sixth-largest container line, also said late yesterday it placed a $331 million order for five ships with Samsung Heavy.

Korean Shipbuilders

``Samsung Heavy's profit recovery came faster than we'd thought,'' said Seo Jung Ho, who manages about $540 million at Daehan Investment Trust Management Co. in Seoul. ``Shipbuilders might keep on rising, with Hyundai Heavy in the lead.''

Hyundai Heavy Industries Co., the world's biggest shipbuilder, surged 9.6 percent to 245,000 won. Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering Co., the third largest, added 2 percent to 40,000 won.

STX Shipbuilding Co., the sixth largest, added 3.5 percent to 29,900 won. It yesterday received an order valued at about $159 million to supply two vessels to Quintana Maritime Ltd., a Greek commodity-shipping company.

Compal Electronics led gains in Taiwan after reporting first-quarter profit climbed 18 percent from a year earlier to NT$2.6 billion ($78 billion), driven by orders from customers including Hewlett-Packard Co. and Dell Inc. Analysts expected profit of NT$2.5 billion, according to the average estimate compiled by Bloomberg.

The stock, whose rating was today raised to ``buy'' from ``neutral'' at Goldman, Sachs & Co., jumped 5.8 percent to NT$31.

Earnings

Powerchip Semiconductor Corp., Taiwan's largest memory chipmaker, gained 1 percent to NT$20.50. First-quarter profit rose more than sixfold from a year earlier to NT$7.53 billion, the company said. That beat the NT$6.43 billion median estimate in a Bloomberg survey of ten analysts.

China Life, the nation's biggest insurer, added 2.2 percent to 37.71 yuan in Shanghai. Its Hong Kong-traded stock rose 1.4 percent to HK$25.40. The insurer late yesterday said it earned 8.9 billion yuan ($1.2 billion) in the first quarter, without giving a comparable year-earlier figure.

``Fundamentals are still behind China Life's stock rally, despite all this speculation,'' said Zhang Shuntai, who helps manage about $127 million at Zhonghai Fund Management Co. in Shanghai. ``A good stock market and fast premium growth are supporting the company.''

Separately, China Life plans to sell as much as 19.9 percent of itself to Citigroup, the Hong Kong Economic Journal said today, citing unidentified people.

China Life Insurance Co. (601268 CH)
Cnooc Ltd. (883 HK)
Compal Electronics Inc. (2324 TT)
Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering Co. (042660 KS)
Hon Hai Precision Industry Co. (2317 JT)
Hynix Semiconductor Inc. (000660 KS)
Hyundai Motor Co. (005380 KS)
Hyundai Heavy Industries Co. (009540 KS)
Mitsui Chemicals Inc. (4183 JT)
Oil & Natural Gas Corp. (ONGC IN)
Powerchip Semiconductor Corp. (5346 TT)
PTT Pcl (PTT TB)
Samsung Heavy Industries Co. (010140 KS)
STX Shipbuilding Co. (067250 KS)
Sumitomo Chemical Co. (4005 JT)
Toyota Motor Corp. (7203 JT)

To contact the reporter for this story: Chen Shiyin in Singapore at schen37@bloomberg.net; George Hsu in Taipei at georgehsu@bloomberg.net

Last Updated: April 24, 2007 03:09 EDT