Sony Corp., a Japanese exporter of consumer electronics that depends on Europe for 21 percent of its sales, rose 1.9 percent in Tokyo. Komatsu Ltd., a maker of construction machinery that counts China as its biggest market, added 1.6 percent on speculation a shrinking trade surplus may prompt China to ease monetary policy.BHP Billiton Ltd. (BHP), the world’s No. 1 mining company and Australia’s biggest oil producer, climbed 2.4 percent in Sydney after crude and copper prices rose.
The situation in Europe is “moving in the right direction, but I think we need to see more out of Europe before we can be confident,” saidShane Oliver, Sydney-based head of investment strategy at AMP Capital Investors Ltd., which has almost $100 billion under management. “It’s appropriate to increase wagers a bit, going into a year-end period, which normally sees share prices move higher.”
The MSCI Asia Pacific Index gained 1 percent to 116.19 as of 10:03 a.m. in Tokyo, with more than 13 shares rising for each that fell. The gauge dropped 2.2 percent last week after Standard & Poor’s said it may cut credit ratings for Germany, France and 13 other euro-area countries amid a deepening debt crisis.
Japan’s Nikkei 225 Stock Average (NKY) increased 1.2 percent, while South Korea’s Kospi Index rose 1.2 percent. Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 index climbed 1.5 percent.
‘Fiscal Compact’
Futures on the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index (SPXL1) were little changed after falling as much as 0.3 percent today. The index rose 1.7 percent in New York on Dec. 9 after European leaders in Brussels tightened anti-deficit rules and agreed to boost their rescue fund by as much as 200 billion euros ($267 billion) by funneling money to theInternational Monetary Fund.
Europe’s leaders outlined a “fiscal compact” to prevent future debt run-ups and accelerated the start of a planned 500 billion-euro rescue fund.
Stocks also gained as confidence improved among consumers in the U.S., the world’s biggest economy. The Thomson Reuters/University of Michigan preliminary index of consumer sentiment rose to 67.7 in December from 64.1 in November, beating estimates.
In China, customs data released Dec. 10 showed the weakest export growth since 2009. Overseas shipments rose 13.8 percent last month from a year earlier, while the excess of exports over imports fell by 35 percent.
China Reserve Ratio
A smaller trade surplus and signs that capital has started to flow out of the country may encourage the country to extend a Nov. 30 cut in bank reserve requirements, the first such move since 2008, according to Shen Jianguang, a Hong Kong-based economist at Mizuho Securities Asia Ltd.
The MSCI Asia Pacific Index declined 16 percent this year through last week, compared with a 0.2 percent drop by the S&P 500 and a 13 percent loss by the Stoxx Europe 600 Index. Stocks in the Asian benchmark are valued at 12.7 times estimated earnings on average, compared with 12.7 times for the S&P 500 and 10.6 times for the Stoxx 600.
Crude oil for January delivery rose $1.07 to settle at $99.41 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange on Dec. 9. It was the biggest gain since Nov. 29. Copper for three-month delivery rose 1.4 percent to $7,815 a metric ton on the London Metal Exchange.
To contact the reporters on this story: Jonathan Burgos in Singapore atjburgos4@bloomberg.net; Yoshiaki Nohara in Tokyo at ynohara1@bloomberg.net
To contact the editor responsible for this story: Nick Gentle at ngentle2@bloomberg.net
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