Asian Stocks Rise as Intel Sales Estimate Bolsters Confidence in Recovery
April 14 (Bloomberg) -- Stacy Smith, chief financial officer at Intel Corp., talks with Bloomberg's Susan Li about demand for personal computers. The world’s biggest chipmaker forecast second-quarter sales that topped analysts’ predictions, citing growing worldwide demand. Speaking from Santa Clara, California, Smith also discusses Apple's iPad, partnerships and China's currency policy. (Source: Bloomberg)
April 14 (Bloomberg) -- David Champion, director of automotive testing at Consumer Reports magazine, talks with Bloomberg's Susan Li about concerns over Toyota Motor Corp.'s Lexus GX 460 sport-utility vehicles. Toyota has asked its dealers to temporarily halt sales of the 2010 GX 460 after Consumer Reports labeled the model a "safety risk," the magazine’s first such designation in nine years, and issued a "don’t buy" recommendation. (Source: Bloomberg)
Asian stocks rose for the third time in four days as a higher-than-estimated sales forecast at Intel Corp. bolstered confidence in the strength of the global economic recovery.
Samsung Electronics Co., the world’s biggest chipmaker after Intel, gained 2.1 percent in Seoul. Tokyo Electron Ltd. climbed 3.6 percent in Tokyo after the company said orders for machines that make semiconductors and flat-panel displays rose. Telstra Corp. rose 2.7 percent in Wellington on speculation the company had reached an agreement to sell its fixed-line assets to the Australian government’s national broadband network.
“The global economy is steadily recovering,” said Hiroichi Nishi, an equities manager at Nikko Cordial Securities Inc. “Investors will promptly buy shares when markets fall, on the backdrop of a rising trend overall.”
The MSCI Asia Pacific Index gained 0.6 percent to 128.17 as of 9:22 a.m. in Tokyo after yesterday’s 0.6 percent decline. The gauge has climbed 12 percent from this year’s low on Feb. 8 as improving economic data boosted the outlook for the global economy. Stocks in the index trade at 16.3 times estimated earnings, compared with 14.9 times for the MSCI World Index of 23 developed nations.
Japan’s Nikkei 225 Stock Average rose 0.6 percent and South Korea’s Kospi jumped 1.2 percent. Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 Index rose 0.4 percent. New Zealand’s NZX 50 Index climbed 0.4 percent in Wellington even as the statistics office reported an unexpected decline in February retail sales.
Intel Sales
Futures on the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index increased 0.2 percent. The gauge rose 0.1 percent yesterday to the highest close since September 2008, as Fastenal Co.’s profit topped analysts’ estimates. Intel said second-quarter sales will be about $10.2 billion after the market closed. Analysts in a Bloomberg survey had estimated $9.72 billion on average.
Samsung climbed 2.1 percent to 845,000 won, while Tokyo Electron, the world’s second-largest maker of semiconductor equipment, jumped 3.6 percent to 6,590 yen. Tokyo Electron said orders for machines that make semiconductors and flat-panel displays rose last quarter to the highest level in two years.
Telstra, Australia’s largest phone company, climbed 2.7 percent to NZ$4.15. The company may have been offered A$9.75 billion ($9.1 billion) by the government’s NBN Co. in exchange for its fixed line assets, the Australian newspaper said, citing market speculation.
The company said rumors that it had completed talks to sell the assets were “unfounded” and that negotiations “remain incomplete and confidential.” Telstra shares in Sydney sank 0.6 percent to A$3.17.
In Tokyo, Toyota Motor Corp. lost 0.4 percent to 3,690 yen. The world’s largest carmaker has temporarily halted sales of its Lexus GX 460 SUVs, Lexus General Manager Mark Templin said in an e-mailed statement.
China Southern Airlines Co. may move in Shanghai and Hong Kong after the nation’s largest carrier said it expects sales and passenger traffic to grow by more than 10 percent this year.
To contact the reporters for this story: Kana Nishizawa in Tokyo at knishizawa5@bloomberg.net; Toshiro Hasegawa in Tokyo at thasegawa6@bloomberg.net.
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