Nov. 1 (Bloomberg) -- Asian stocks rose for a second day after oil fell below $60 a barrel and a report showed wages climbed in the U.S., the region's biggest export market. Rio Tinto Group and Samsung Electronics Co. led gains.

``The exporters and resources stocks have the most leverage to strong U.S. consumer demand,'' said Michael Birch, who helps oversee about $70 million at Wallace Funds Management in Sydney. ``The oil price has been a bit scary all year, so any easing is going to provide a double boost to sentiment.''

The Morgan Stanley Capital International Asia-Pacific Index added 1 percent to 110.49 at 1:40 p.m. in Tokyo. The regional gauge climbed 1.2 percent yesterday. Indexes around the region rose, except in China and Indonesia. Markets were closed in Singapore, Malaysia, the Philippines and India for holidays.

Japan's Nikkei 225 Stock Average and the broader Topix index each added 1 percent. The Tokyo Stock Exchange, the world's second largest, suspended morning trading for the first time after its computer system failed.

South Korea's Kospi index jumped 2.7 percent, Asia's biggest advance. Kookmin Bank led gains after the lender said third-quarter profit almost tripled to a record. Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index added 1 percent.

Crude oil slid 2.2 percent to $59.85 a barrel in New York, the first time since July 28 it has closed below $60. Oil was at $59.80 in after-hours trade.

The Standard & Poor's 500 Index rose 0.7 percent, bringing its two-day advance to 2.4 percent, the biggest two-day rally in almost a year. Consumer incomes increased 1.7 percent in September, the Commerce Department said. Economists surveyed expected growth of 0.3 percent.

Strong Figures

``The U.S. economic figures are quite strong and will bring confidence to the Asian market,'' said Rico Cheung, who oversees about $74 million at Franklin Templeton Sealand Fund Management Co. in Shanghai. ``We have every reason to favor exporters.''

Samsung Electronics, South Korea's largest exporter, rose 2.4 percent to 565,000 won. The company generated 83 percent of its sales from abroad last year. Rio Tinto, the world's third- biggest mining company, gained 1.2 percent to A$57.

Hyundai Motor Co., South Korea's biggest automaker, gained 2.9 percent to 78,800 won. Hon Hai Precision Industry Co., Taiwan's largest electronics exporter by sales, added 4.5 percent to NT$151.50. Rinker Group Ltd., the biggest supplier of cement blocks in the U.S., climbed 3.4 percent to A$15.57. The Australian company gets about 80 percent of its sales in the U.S.

Japan

Canon Inc., the world's biggest copier maker, jumped 1.5 percent to 6,160 yen. Toyota Motor Corp., the world's largest carmaker by value, climbed 1.9 percent to 5,410 yen.

The Tokyo Stock Exchange said it was unable to start trading at the regular opening for the first time. Trading resumed at 1:30 p.m. in Japan. The last time the market couldn't open on schedule was on Aug. 1, 1997, when limited trading kept going without computers.

Trading on exchanges in Sapporo and Fukuoka, which use the same system as the Tokyo bourse, was also suspended, according to the exchanges. The trading halt came after the Tokyo exchange upgraded its trading system amid record volumes.

``The cause may be related to maintenance of the trading system that the exchange carried out late yesterday,'' said Koichi Seki, an equity manager at Chuo Securities Co. in Tokyo.

South Korea

Kookmin, South Korea's largest lender, jumped 10.3 percent to 63,200 won. Net income rose to 923.9 billion won ($888 million) from a revised 322 billion won in the same period last year, the bank said after the market closed yesterday. Analysts had expected Kookmin to earn 556 billion won.

Korea Investment & Securities Co. raised its six-month stock-price estimate on Kookmin to 81,000 won from a previous forecast of 72,600 won, citing the bank's potential to revive earnings based on its market dominance. Mirae Asset Securities Co. also lifted its six-month share-price forecast to 73,700 won from 71,700 won.

``Kookmin's earnings give a boost of confidence to buy shares of financial companies,'' said Kim Yun Min, who helps oversee $1 billion at Korea Investment Trust Management Co. in Seoul.

Shinhan Financial Group Co, South Korea's second-largest financial services company, rose 4.2 percent to 36,250 won. Woori Finance Holdings Co., the third largest, gained 4.7 percent to 16,800 won.

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

Last Updated: October 31, 2005 23:42 EST