Most Asian stock markets rose, led by commodity producers and telecommunications companies, amid speculation government policies will help shelter the region from the global recession. Cnooc Ltd., China’s largest offshore oil producer, and Rio Tinto Group, the world’s third-biggest mining company, added at least 3 percent after oil and metal prices rallied on Dec. 31. Hyundai Motor Co. climbed 3 percent in Seoul as the country’s president pledged to counter the economic slowdown. ZTE Corp. led gains among telephone-related shares after China said it will issue licenses to providers of high-speed services. “Governments are throwing everything into the system to save it,” said Jason Teh, who helps manage $5.7 billion at Investors Mutual Ltd. in Sydney. “At some point, you’d think the economic benefits will occur.” More than two stocks gained for each one that fell on the MSCI Asia Pacific excluding Japan Index, which lost 0.2 percent to 247.47 as of 12:04 p.m. in Hong Kong. The index tumbled 53 percent in 2008, the biggest annual drop in its two-decade history as the credit crisis tipped the world’s biggest economies into recessions. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index rose 2.2 percent to 14,699.76. All other markets advanced except Australia and Vietnam. Japan, China, New Zealand, Taiwan, Indonesia, Thailand, and the Philippines are closed today. National Australia Bank Ltd. declined 2.7 percent after saying it issued new shares. Also in Australia, Atlas Iron Ltd., Murchison Metals Ltd. and Fortescue Metals Group Ltd. jumped on optimism China will buy more iron ore. Writedowns, Losses Only three of 89 major equity indexes tracked by Bloomberg posted gains in 2008. Global equities lost $30 trillion in value last year as the collapse of the American housing market caused losses and writedowns at financial institutions worldwide to swell to more than $1 trillion. Growth in the global economy will slow to 2.2 percent this year from 2008’s 3.7 percent, the International Monetary Fund said on Nov. 6. The IMF said a growth rate of 3 percent or less is “equivalent to a global recession.” An index of Australian manufacturing contracted for a seventh month in December, according to an industry report released in Canberra today. Singapore’s economy may shrink more than previously forecast in 2009, the government said. The MSCI Asia Pacific Index, which includes Japan, slid 43 percent last year for a record annual decline as the threat of lower commodities demand caused energy and materials indexes on the broader gauge to lose more than half their value. The gauge trades at 13.2 times estimated profit, down more than a fifth from a year ago. Metal, Oil Prices Rio gained 2.5 percent to A$38.94 after a measure of six metals traded on the London Metal Exchange rose for the third day, gaining 5.1 percent on Dec. 31. Copper rallied 5.3 percent, zinc 5 percent and nickel 9.2 percent. Minara Resources Ltd., an Australian nickel producer controlled by Glencore International AG, surged 7 percent to 30.5 Australian cents. Cnooc climbed 3.2 percent to HK$7.47 in Hong Kong. PetroChina Co., China’s largest oil producer, rose 3.2 percent to HK$7.01. Woodside Petroleum Ltd., Australia’s second-biggest oil company, added 1.3 percent to A$37.18. Crude oil surged 14 percent to $44.60 a barrel on Dec. 31 in New York, trimming a record annual decline, after a government report showed a smaller-than-expected gain in U.S. fuel supplies. Prices dropped 3.7 percent in after-hours trading. Government Support The global slowdown prompted governments worldwide including the U.S. and Japan to slash interest rates and announce stimulus packages. Australia yesterday embarked on A$17 billion ($12 billion) of spending that will go to pensioners, families and first-home buyers in addition to education, health and transport projects. “We won’t waste a minute or a second in examining economic conditions every day and coming up with measures,” South Korea’s President Lee Myung Bak said today in a new-year address televised live. “Most of all, we have to ensure money flow in the markets first.” Hyundai Motor, South Korea’s largest automaker, gained 2.4 percent to 40,450. LG Display Co., the world’s second-largest maker of liquid-crystal displays, rose 9.5 percent to 23,000 won. In Hong Kong, ZTE, China’s second-biggest maker of phone- network equipment, climbed 7.1 percent to HK$21.75. China Telecom Corp., the nation’s biggest fixed-line phone company, gained 5.2 percent to HK$3.04. Iron-Ore Exports The Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, which regulates the country’s telecommunications industry, said on Dec. 31 that it will “prudently” award permits to provide high- speed wireless services. National Australia Bank declined 2.7 percent to A$20.30 after saying it issued 43 million new shares. More than half of the stock is part of the bank’s dividend reinvestment plan, with the remainder allocated to staff. Atlas Iron climbed 16 percent to 99 Australian cents. Murchison Metals advanced 13 percent to 72 cents. Fortescue, Australia’s No. 3 iron ore producer, rose 3.4 percent to A$2. India’s iron-ore exports in November doubled from the previous month as China, the world’s biggest consumer of the material, increased purchases. China is spending 4 trillion yuan ($586 billion) to stimulate its sagging economy, raising expectations of increased metals and steel consumption. “The iron-ore stocks have been overly poorly treated in the past couple of months with all the fear over China,” said Michael Heffernan, a client adviser with Austock Securities Ltd. “Negativity over the Chinese situation is overdone.”

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