SFC: Asian Stocks Rise on Toyota Profit Forecast, U.S. Economic Data
Aug. 5 (Bloomberg) -- Asian stocks climbed after Toyota Motor Corp. raised its profit forecast and reports on U.S. service industries and jobs beat economists\' estimates.
Toyota, the world\'s largest carmaker, jumped 2.3 percent in Tokyo. Canon Inc., which gets 28 percent of its revenue from the Americas, rose 2.1 percent as the dollar strengthened against the yen, boosting the prospects for Japan\'s export earnings. Newcrest Mining Ltd., Australia\'s largest gold producer, advanced 1.3 percent after the precious metal\'s price rose.
\"The market will probably start off higher, led by Japanese exporters after the U.S. data exceeded forecasts and the yen weakened,\" said Mitsushige Akino, who manages about $450 million at Ichiyoshi Investment Management Co. in Tokyo.
The MSCI Asia Pacific Index advanced 0.8 percent to 121.64 as of 9:32 a.m. in Tokyo. The gauge has lost 5.8 percent from its high this year on April 15 on speculation the global economy growth will slow down. That concern intensified in the past month amid weaker-than-estimated U.S. economic reports.
Japan\'s Nikkei 225 Stock Average climbed 1.9 percent, while South Korea\'s Kospi Index rose 0.3 percent. Australia\'s S&P/ASX 200 Index gained 0.8 percent and New Zealand\'s NZX 50 Index was little changed.
Futures on the Standard & Poor\'s 500 Index were also little changed. The index rose 0.6 percent yesterday after the Institute for Supply Management\'s index of non-manufacturing businesses, which covers about 90 percent of the U.S. economy, rose in June. Economists surveyed by Bloomberg expected a drop.
Figures from ADP Employer Services showed U.S. payrolls, excluding government agencies, climbed by 42,000 last month, compared with 30,000 economists expected.
China\'s banks and property developers including Industrial & Commercial Bank of China Ltd., the world\'s largest lender by market value, and China Vanke Co., the nation\'s largest publicly traded developer, may be active today.
China\'s banking regulator told lenders to conduct a new round of stress tests to gauge the effects of a deeper real- estate slump, a person with knowledge of the matter said.
