BLBG:Asian Stocks Climb After China Trade Data; Metals, Won Advance
Asian stocks rose for a third day, with the benchmark index heading toward a five-year high, after China’s trade expanded more than economists estimated. The New Zealand dollar weakened as the Korean won and metals gained.
The MSCI Asia Pacific Index added 0.7 percent as of 1:22 p.m. in Tokyo, heading for its highest close since June 2008. Japan’s Topix Index gained 0.4 percent, while Standard & Poor’s 500 Index futures were little changed. The kiwi dollar sank 0.7 percent and the won rose 0.3 percent to a two-month high. Zinc added 0.4 percent and tin increased 0.6 percent.
China’s export and import growth unexpectedly accelerated in April even as economists expressed skepticism over the data and shipments to the U.S. and Europe fell. Reserve Bank of New Zealand Governor Graeme Wheeler said the bank had sold the kiwi and was capable of more intervention. Stocks worldwide climbed 10 percent this year on higher earnings and central bank easing.
“Markets are being driven by heightened stimulus,” said Matthew Sherwood, Sydney-based head of investment market research at Perpetual Ltd., which manages about $25 billion. “Economic data remains in the Goldilocks range -- weak enough to warrant continued stimulus, but strong enough to keep earnings expectations positive.”
The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed above 15,000 for the first time yesterday and the S&P 500 Index rose 0.5 percent, reaching a record for a fourth straight day. The MSCI Asian gauge rose 11 percent this year.
Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 Index (AS51) advanced 0.9 percent to trade near the highest level in five years. South Korea’s Kospi index rose 0.1 percent. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index gained 0.6 percent and China’s Shanghai Composite (SHCOMP) increased 0.3 percent.
Exports, Imports
Shipments from China rose 14.7 percent, the General Administration of Customs said today in Beijing, compared with the 9.2 percent median forecast of analysts surveyed by Bloomberg News. Imports advanced 16.8 percent, while the trade surplus of $18.2 billion was higher than projected.
Louis Kuijs, chief China economist at Royal Bank of Scotland Group Plc, said the real increase in exports may be 9 percentage points lower than the official number. Kuijs and analysts at Goldman Sachs Group Inc. have said previous figures may have been overstated and are inconsistent with other indicators and data from trading partners.
Komatsu Ltd. (6301), the world’s second-biggest maker of construction and mining equipment, added 4.2 percent in Tokyo, leading industrial companies higher. Wilmar International Ltd. (WIL), the No. 1 palm-oil processor, rose 3.3 percent in Singapore as first-quarter profit surged 23 percent. Toyota Motor Corp., Bridgestone Corp. and Toshiba Corp. report earnings today.
Won, Kiwi
The won’s advance for a fourth day prompted Kim Seong Wook, a director in the finance ministry, to say the government will closely monitor any “unnecessary movement” that increases exchange-rate volatility.
Sales of New Zealand dollars in the past month were designed to top off the kiwi, said RBNZ’s Wheeler. Australia’s dollar touched its weakest level in two months before jobs data tomorrow projected to show the unemployment rate remained at its highest in more than three years. The Reserve Bank of Australia cut its benchmark interest rate to a record yesterday.
The euro gained 0.1 percent to $1.3093 before data that may show German industrial production shrank 0.1 percent in March after expanding 0.5 percent in February.
Zinc for delivery in three months increased to $1,880.25 a metric ton on the London Metal Exchange as copper gained 0.1 percent. Gold added 0.2 percent to $1,455.03 an ounce and West Texas Intermediate crude was up 0.2 percent at $95.77 a barrel.
The cost of insuring corporate and sovereign bonds against non-payment in the Asia-Pacific region fell, according to traders of credit-default swaps. The Markit iTraxx Japan index dropped 2 basis points to 77 basis points, according to Deutsche Bank AG prices. The gauge is on track for its lowest close since May 21, 2008, according to CMA.
To contact the reporters on this story: Jae Hur in Tokyo at jhur1@bloomberg.net; Adam Haigh in Sydney at ahaigh1@bloomberg.net
To contact the editor responsible for this story: James Poole at jpoole4@bloomberg.net
