imported post
Things looking good in Asia; besides this the yen is appreciating against the dollar. Word is it will be a 105 =$1 by the end of the year; it is approximately 109 now.
I would hold off buying US Treasury debt myself if I could get more for less in a matter of a few months.
Asian Stocks Advance as Japan Rises on Koizumi Win; Kospi Gains
Sept. 12 (Bloomberg) -- Asian stocks gained, with Japan's benchmarks climbing to the highest in more than four years, after Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi won a landslide election victory.
Banks including Mizuho Financial Group Inc. led gains on expectations Koizumi will be able to push ahead with plans to cut debt and bolster growth in the world's second-largest economy by selling state assets. A report showed the economy expanded in the second quarter at three times the pace the government estimated.
Koizumi is ``going to be more aggressive on change,'' said David Herro, who runs the $5.7 billion Oakmark International Fund in Chicago. ``The fact that growth is coming on will take pressure off the U.S. and that will not only be good for Pacific-Rim growth, but for the global economy.''
Taiwan's Hon Hai Precision Industry Co., which makes PlayStation Portables for Sony Corp., and Singapore's CapitaLand Ltd., which has two property funds in Japan, advanced.
The Morgan Stanley Capital International Asia-Pacific Index, which tracks more than 1,000 companies, rose 0.8 percent to 109.22, the highest since September 2000, at 6:50 p.m. in Tokyo. South Korea's Kospi index closed at a record high for a fourth day. Indexes in the Philippines and New Zealand fell, and gained elsewhere in the region. China was little changed.
Majority Rules
Japan's Nikkei 225 Stock Average advanced 1.6 percent to 12,896.43, its biggest gain since Aug. 10. The Topix index added 1.3 percent. The benchmarks closed at the highest since June 2001.
Industry measures tracking banks, property companies and insurers were the three best performers among the 33 Topix industry groups after Koizumi's Liberal Democratic Party and its coalition partner won 68 percent of seats in the lower house.
Mizuho, Japan's largest bank by assets, climbed 4.4 percent to 640,000 yen. Mitsubishi Tokyo Financial Group Inc., the second biggest, added 2.7 percent to 1.15 million yen. Millea Holdings Inc., the biggest insurance firm, climbed 3.8 percent to 1.65 million yen.
Koizumi called for elections after legislators from his own party voted against his plan to sell Japan Post, the world's largest savings bank with 350 trillion yen ($3.2 trillion) in assets. Banks would gain if deposits and insurance contracts individuals hold at Japan Post were shifted to their accounts.
`Overwhelming'
``An election victory that is so overwhelming will give Koizumi a mandate, not just to privatize the postal system, but a general mandate for reform,'' Brent Lynn, who runs the $2.2 billion Janus Overseas Fund at Janus Capital Group Inc. in Denver, said in a telephone interview from Hong Kong. ``It's a spectacular result.''
Overseas investors have been net buyers of Japanese stocks for the past 12 weeks, according to the Ministry of Finance.
A government report before the market opened showed the economy grew at a 3.3 percent annual pace in the second quarter, three times as much as its initial estimate and more than all 18 economists had expected in a Bloomberg News survey.
Mitsui Fudosan Co., Japan's biggest developer, added 3.5 percent to 1,598 yen. Land prices in Tokyo rose last year for the first time since 1992.
Japan Effect
CLSA Ltd.'s Christopher Wood, the top-ranked Asian equity strategist in Institutional Investor's latest survey, recommended investors buy Japanese stocks such as Mizuho and Mitsubishi Estate Co. that will benefit from the nation's economic growth.
John Vail, chief strategist at JPMorgan Chase & Co.'s brokerage unit in Tokyo, raised the year-end estimate for the Topix by 5.9 percent to 1350 in an e-mailed note to clients today.
In Taiwan, the Taiex index gained 0.8 percent, while Singapore's Straits Times Index climbed 1 percent.
Hon Hai Precision, Taiwan's largest electronics company, rose 2.6 percent to NT$156. Quanta Computer Inc., which counts Matsushita Electric Industrial Co. among its customers, added 3.2 percent to NT$55.20.
Taiwan's exports to Japan in the past 12 months rose 8.5 percent to $13.9 billion from the same period a year ago. In the period, Japan accounted for 7.6 percent of the island's exports.
CapitaLand, Southeast Asia's top developer, rose 1.7 percent to S$3.02. The company has said it may tie up with Wal-Mart Stores Inc. or a retailer in Japan to expand in the country.
South Korea
``Because Japan is the largest economy in Asia, any positives pushing its markets higher are also good for the rest of the region,'' said Choi Chang Hoon, who helps manage $770 million at Woori Asset Management Co. in Seoul.
The Kospi advanced 0.5 percent to 1158.36, the fourth record in as many days. On Sept. 7, the index surpassed a record closing high that stood for almost 11 years.
Samsung Securities Co. led gains by brokerages on expectations earnings will climb as trading increases. Shares valued at an average 3 trillion won ($3 billion) have changed hands daily in the past three months. That's 24 percent more than the daily average in the first six months of the year.
Samsung Securities, South Korea's largest brokerage by market value, jumped 6.4 percent to 40,700 won.
Daewoo Securities Co., the second largest, rose 5.8 percent to 12,750 won. The company said on Sept. 10 its profit in August more than doubled to 30 billion won from a year ago.
Elsewhere, Japan's TIS Inc., which provides system construction and data processing services, slumped 14 percent to 2,605 yen, the biggest drop in almost 12 years. The company slashed its half-year profit forecast by 44 percent and three analysts lowered their recommendations on the stock.
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