April 23 (Bloomberg) -- Asian stocks rose for a second day, led by exporters, after earnings reports damped concern the global economy is headed for a slowdown.

JFE Holdings Inc., Japan's second-largest steelmakers, climbed after the Nikkei newspaper said its pretax profit may increase to records. Higher net income also lifted shares of Harbin Power Equipment Co., the nation's biggest maker of electricity-generation equipment.

Komatsu Ltd., the world's second-largest maker of earth- moving equipment, jumped the most in eight months after larger rival Caterpillar Inc. joined U.S. companies reporting better- than-expected first-quarter profits.

``Corporate earnings announcements as a whole gave relief to investors,'' said Soichiro Monji, who helps oversee about $47 billion at Daiwa SB Investments Ltd. in Tokyo.

The Morgan Stanley Capital International Asia-Pacific Index climbed 0.3 percent to 147.90 as of 6 p.m. in Tokyo. The measure is 0.9 percent below last week's record close of 149.27.

The Nikkei 225 Stock Average added less than 0.1 percent to 17,455.37, after earlier rising as much as 1.2 percent. Mizuho Financial Group Inc. led a 0.3 percent slide in the broader Topix index after a central bank report showed corporate demand for loans is cooling in Japan, whose debt ratings were today raised one level by Standard & Poor's.

Citic Securities Co. led gains in China, where the CSI 300 Index climbed to a record, on speculation a pickup in new account openings at brokerages will spur trading. South Korea's Kospi Index also set a new high, while Hong Kong and Pakistan were the region's only markets to decline.

Steelmakers' Outlook

JFE may increase its pretax profit by 2 percent to about 520 billion yen, the Nikkei said, without saying where it got the information. It will probably increase its dividend for the fiscal half year ending Sept. 30 by 10 yen to 60 yen, the report also said. The stock jumped 0.9 percent to 6,530 yen.

Profit for the year ending March 31 at Nippon Steel Corp, its larger rival, may be 2 percent above estimates at a record 600 billion yen ($5.1 billion), the Nikkei newspaper also said. The shares were unchanged at 769 yen, after earlier rising as much as 1.8 percent.

Sumitomo Metal Industries Ltd., Japan's third-largest steelmaker, climbed 1.5 percent to 609 yen. Posco, the world's fourth-largest steelmaker, added 3.6 percent to 387,500 won.

Harbin Power Equipment said full-year profit surged 120 percent to 1.02 billion yuan ($132 million) as more power plants were built to reduce blackouts. The stock added 4.5 percent to HK$9.51.

Chinese Earnings

Higher profits also lifted shares of Shanghai Electric Power Co., which supplies a third of the electricity in China's richest city, and Shanghai Zhenhua Port Machinery Co., the world's biggest maker of container cranes.

Shanghai Electric rose 3.3 percent to 9.60 yuan on the mainland as profit last quarter climbed 6.2 percent from a year earlier to 109.5 million yuan. Shanghai Zhenhua, which said first-quarter profit rose 28 percent to 452 million yuan, gained 4.6 percent to 18.73 yuan.

After the close of trading, Hyundai Steel Co., South Korea's No. 2 steelmaker, and Taiwan's Powerchip Semiconductor Corp. and Compal Electronics Inc. reported higher first-quarter profits.

Shares in the U.S. climbed on April 20 after earnings from companies including American Express Co. topped estimates. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 1.2 percent to a record, while the Standard & Poor's 500 Index added 0.9 percent.

Honda Motor Co., Japan's second-largest automaker by sales, rose 0.7 percent to 4,120 yen. The company makes more than half of its sales in North America. Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co., the world's largest maker of customized computer chips, added 1.6 percent to NT$68.60.

Caterpillar

About 67 percent of companies in the S&P 500 that reported quarterly earnings beat analyst estimates, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.

Caterpillar, the world's largest maker of earthmoving equipment, said profit last quarter was $816 million, more than the average estimate of $736.1 million in a Bloomberg survey of five analysts.

Komatsu, Japan's largest maker of construction machinery, rallied 4.8 percent to 2,715 yen. Hitachi Construction Machinery Co., the second biggest, jumped 4 percent to 3,610 yen. Doosan Infracore Co., South Korea's biggest maker of construction equipment, surged 5.7 percent to 29,500 won.

``U.S. earnings haven't disappointed, so people are quite happy to keep putting money into Asia,'' said James Johnstone, chief investment officer at Alcor Investment Management in Singapore, which manages $85 million. ``A key reason why companies such as Caterpillar are reporting strong earnings is because of their strong performance in Asia.''

`Negative News'

Mizuho Financial, Japan's second-largest bank, declined 1.9 percent to 729,000 yen. Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group Inc., the biggest, slid 0.8 percent to 1.29 million yen.

An index of demand for loans from companies fell to 9 in April from 14 in January, the Bank of Japan said in a quarterly report in Tokyo today, citing a survey of the nation's top 50 banks.

``Slowing loan demand is one more negative piece of news for bank stocks,'' said Kimiyoshi Saito, who helps oversee around $18 billion at Chuo Mitsui Asset Management Co. in Tokyo.

Shares did better in China, Asia's biggest economy after Japan, with the CSI 300 Index surging 4.3 percent. It's jumped 8.9 percent in two days, the biggest back-to-back gains in almost two years.

Record Accounts

A record 282,580 new brokerage accounts for trading yuan- denominated shares were opened April 19, bringing the total to about 90.8 million accounts, the China Securities Depository & Clearing Corp. said on its Web site. About 2.76 million accounts have been opened this month, compared with 3.08 million for the whole of last year, it said.

Citic Securities, China's biggest publicly traded brokerage, climbed 5.2 percent to 52.88 yuan. Hong Yuan Securities Co., the country's first publicly traded brokerage, gained 5.3 percent to 30.10 yuan.

``The fact that more investors will pour money into the market, and corporate earnings, are currently driving up shares,'' said Chen Shide, who looks after the equivalent of $212 million at GF Fund Management Co. in Guangzhou.

Elsewhere, Hyundai Heavy Industries Co., the world's biggest shipbuilder, gained 4.9 percent to 223,500 won in Seoul. It won an order from Greece's Prime Marine Corp. for two ships valued at $61 million each, TradeWinds reported on April 20, without citing anyone.

Oil producers also advanced, climbing in tandem with crude prices. Inpex Holdings Inc., Japan's biggest oil explorer, added 1 percent to 976,000 yen. Woodside Petroleum Ltd., the largest oil producer in Australia after BHP Billiton Ltd., gained 0.5 percent to A$39.33, while Cnooc Ltd., China's largest offshore oil explorer, climbed 0.6 percent to HK$6.80.

Crude oil for June delivery rose 1.7 percent to $64.43 a barrel in New York after militant attacks in Nigeria, Africa's largest oil producer, disrupted output.

Citic Securities Co. (600030 CH)
Cnooc Ltd. (883 HK)
Doosan Infracore Co. (042670 KS)
Harbin Power Equipment Co. (1133 HK)
Hitachi Construction Machinery Co. (6305 JT)
Honda Motor Co. (7267 JT)
Hong Yuan Securities Co. (00562 CH)
Hyundai Heavy Industries Co. (009540 KS)
Inpex Holdings Inc. (1605 JT)
JFE Holdings Inc. (5411 JT)
Komatsu Ltd. (6301 JT)
Nippon Steel Corp. (5401 JT)
Posco (005490 KS)
Shanghai Electric Power Co. (600021 CH)
Shanghai Zhenhua Port Machinery Co. (600320 CH)
Sumitomo Metal Industries Ltd. (5405 JT)
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. (2330 TT)
Woodside Petroleum Ltd. (WPL AU)

To contact the reporter for this story: Chen Shiyin in Singapore at schen37@bloomberg.net; Patrick Rial in Tokyo at prial@bloomberg.net.

Last Updated: April 23, 2007 05:24 EDT