BLBG: Asian Stocks Gain as Obama Wins Presidency; Treasuries Drop
By Kyung Bok Cho and Chan Tien Hin
Nov. 5 (Bloomberg) -- Asian stocks gained as Barack Obama's presidential victory sparked optimism his spending plans will help the economy recover from the credit crisis. The dollar rose and treasuries declined.
Toyota Motor Corp., which gets the biggest portion of its sales from North America, added 10 percent. Obama has urged Congress to pass a $175 billion economic stimulus bill immediately after the election. BHP Billiton Ltd. led commodity shares higher after oil soared 10 percent yesterday. Mizuho Financial Group Inc. surged 16 percent as money market rates fell, indicating credit markets are thawing out.
Obama ``will attempt to change the way the U.S. does business and how it conducts itself with the rest of the world,'' said Raymond Tang, who oversees $5.8 billion as chief investment officer at CIMB-Principal Asset Management Bhd., a unit Malaysia's second-biggest bank. ``We wait with bated breath. It's a whole new world and a new fantastic point of view.''
The MSCI Asia Pacific Index gained 4.6 percent to 94.37 as of 5:21 p.m. in Tokyo, paring its slump this year to 40 percent. All 10 of the measure's industry groups rose. Japan's Nikkei 225 Stock Average climbed 4.5 percent to 9,521.24.
All markets open for trading advanced, except in India and Taiwan. Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index gained 3.2 percent, led by Richard Li's PCCW Ltd., after the billionaire and China Network Communications Group Corp. bid $1.9 billion to buy out other investors. Sumitomo Heavy Industries Ltd. jumped in Tokyo trading after first-half profit exceeded its own forecast.
MSCI's Asian index has risen 9.8 percent in the past three days amid efforts in the region to ease the fallout from the credit turmoil, which has caused $689 billion of losses at global financial institutions. Australia and India cut interest rates while South Korea pledged to pump $10.8 billion into its economy.
Investor Sentiment
The Asian index is now valued at 1.3 times the value of net assets. It fell below book value on Oct. 27, when the gauge dropped to the lowest since 2003. The average for the past year was 1.7 times, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.
Futures on the Standard & Poor's 500 Index lost 1.6 percent. The S&P 500 climbed 4.1 percent yesterday, the biggest presidential election day rally in 24 years that pared the index's drop this year to 32 percent. Voting concluded during Asian trading hours today for the race between Democrat Obama and Republican John McCain.
Obama crossed the requisite threshold of 270 Electoral College votes needed to claim the White House when television networks declared him the winner in the state of California. Treasuries due in 2010 fell the most in almost two weeks as a gain in Asian stocks and declining money-market rates increased demand for higher-yielding assets.
`Urgent Action'
The dollar rose to $1.2826 per euro from $1.2981 late yesterday in New York on speculation Obama's policies will help overcome a U.S. recession.
The new president faces an economy battered by declining corporate profits and the highest unemployment in five years. Concern that mounting writedowns and credit losses will halt growth pushed the S&P 500 down 17 percent last month, the most since 1987. The MSCI Asia Pacific slumped 20 percent in October.
Obama's $175 billion package includes checks for consumers, a tax credit for job creation and spending on public works such as school repairs, roads and bridges. ``We face an immediate economic emergency that requires urgent action,'' he said, while outlining the plan last month.
Toyota, Japan's largest automaker, climbed 10 percent to 4,250 yen. Honda Motor Co., which gets more than half its sales from North America, added 13 percent to 2,745 yen in Tokyo.
Inpex, SembCorp
Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Ltd., a Japanese wind-turbine maker, advanced 14 percent to 388 yen. Yonghyun BM Co., a South Korean maker of wind-turbine parts, jumped the daily limit of 15 percent to 14,650 won.
``The global wind power market will see another heyday if Barack Obama wins the U.S. presidency given his support for alternative energy,'' Goodmorning Shinhan Securities Co. said in a report.
BHP, the world's biggest mining company and Australia's largest oil producer, gained 8.5 percent to A$31.60. Inpex Corp., Japan's biggest oil explorer, jumped a record 16 percent to 674,000 yen. Korea Zinc Co., the world's second-biggest zinc refiner, surged 11 percent to 74,000 won in Seoul.
Crude oil jumped 10 percent to $70.53 a barrel yesterday in New York, the biggest gain since Sept. 22. A measure of six metals traded on the London Metal Exchange rose 4.5 percent.
SembCorp Marine Ltd., the world's second-biggest builder of oil rigs, climbed 11 percent to S$2.14 in Singapore. The company said third-quarter profit increased 73 percent from a year earlier on demand for offshore rigs and ship repairs.
PCCW Surges
Mizuho, Japan's second-biggest bank by revenue, climbed 16 percent to 288,400 yen. Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group Inc., the largest, added 11 percent to 698 yen.
The cost of borrowing dollars in London fell to the lowest level in almost four years as central banks worldwide injected cash and cut interest rates. The London interbank offered rate, or Libor, for one-month loans slid 18 basis points to 2.18 percent yesterday, the lowest level since November 2004, and the 17th straight decline.
PCCW, Hong Kong's biggest phone carrier, jumped 27 percent to HK$3.68, the biggest gain since December 1999. Chairman Richard Li and China Network Communications Group Corp. offered to take the company private for HK$14.9 billion ($1.9 billion), PCCW said yesterday.
Sumitomo Heavy Industries Ltd., Japan's largest maker of plastic injection-molding gear, soared 23 percent to 376 yen. First-half profit exceeded its forecast by 24 percent.
To contact the reporter for this story: Kyung Bok Cho in Seoul at kcho7@bloomberg.net; Chan Tien Hin in Kuala Lumpur thchan@bloomberg.net.