(Bloomberg, Oct 23, 2006)--Asian stocks advanced, set for a five-month high, on expectations companies including Toyota Motor Corp. and Hyundai Motor Co. will report higher profits.

``Today the focus is on companies that are reporting earnings,'' said Naoki Fujiwara, who oversees $720 million at Shinkin Asset Management Co. in Tokyo. ``Investors are expecting on the whole that companies will exceed forecasts.''

The Morgan Stanley Capital International Asia-Pacific Index added 0.4 percent to 132.08 as of 2:52 p.m. in Tokyo, heading for its highest close since May 19. Japan's Nikkei 225 Stock Average added 0.8 percent to 16,780.43.

China Mobile Ltd., the world's largest cell-phone operator by users, gained in Hong Kong after third-quarter profit climbed 23 percent. Honda Motor Co. and Singapore's Keppel Corp., both due to report earnings this week, also advanced.

Commonwealth Bank of Australia climbed after saying trading conditions were ``favorable'' in the first quarter. Oil-related shares such as Woodside Petroleum Ltd. dropped after crude-oil futures closed at the lowest this year.

The Philippine Stock Exchange Index rose to a nine-year high. Stock benchmarks gained in all markets except in India and China. South Korea and Taiwan were little changed. Indonesia, Pakistan, Malaysia, Thailand and New Zealand are closed today.

Toyota, the world's second-biggest automaker, advanced 1.2 percent to 6,960 yen. Operating profit, or sales minus the cost of goods sold and administrative expenses, will rise to 2.1 trillion yen ($17.8 billion) in the year ending March 31, from 1.9 trillion yen forecast in May, helped by demand for fuel- efficient cars in North America and a weaker-than-expected yen, the Yomiuri newspaper said on Oct. 21.

Earnings Optimism

Toyota had 1.88 trillion yen in profit a year earlier. The company will report its half-year earnings results on Nov. 7.

Hyundai Motor, South Korea's largest automaker, climbed 1.2 percent to 77,400 won. The company's third-quarter operating profit will rise from the previous year despite a drop in sales from a labor strike, wrote Park Young Ho, an analyst at Daewoo Securities Co. in Seoul, in a report dated today. The company will announce earnings on Oct. 26.

Japan's Shin-Etsu Chemical Co., the world's largest maker of silicon wafers, and Koa Corp., a maker of electronic parts, reported first-half earnings today.

Shin-Etsu climbed 1.8 percent to 8,020 yen. The company said first-half net profit rose 35 percent and raised its estimate for full-year net income. Koa climbed 4.4 percent to 1,695 yen after it said first-half net profit surged 188 percent.

Yahoo Japan Corp., the local unit of world's most-visited Internet directory, is also due to report earnings today.

Stock Gains?

Honda, Japan's third-largest automaker, climbed 1.5 percent to 4,120 yen. The company may report a record 138.6 billion yen second-quarter profit on Oct. 25, helped by a weaker yen and rising demand for its fuel-efficient Civic compact cars, according to the median estimate of five analysts in a Bloomberg News survey.

``Investors will begin to take into account the positive earnings coming out of Japan and that should lead to stock gains,'' said Norihiro Fujito, strategist at Mitsubishi UFJ Securities Co. in Tokyo.

China Mobile added 0.6 percent to HK$59.45. The company increased third-quarter profit by 23 percent to 15.9 billion yuan ($2 billion) after reduced call charges attracted customers. The results prompted Citigroup Inc. and Merrill Lynch & Co. to raise their share-price targets on the stock.

``China Mobile appears to have landed on that sweet spot where it can do nothing wrong,'' Wendy Liu and Patrick Russel, analysts at Merrill, wrote in a report dated Oct. 21. They raised their 12-month stock target to HK$72 from HK$65.

Oil Stocks Decline

Keppel, the world's largest builder of shallow-water oil rigs, advanced 0.6 percent to S$15.90. Third-quarter results are due on Oct. 26. Beijing Yanjing Brewery Co., China's third- biggest brewer by output, was unchanged at 7.66 yuan after rising 1.8 percent earlier. Earnings are due after the market closes today.

Commonwealth Bank, Australia's second-biggest lender by assets, rose 1.7 percent to A$47.26. The company is ``on track'' to post full-year earnings-per-share growth which ``meets or exceeds'' the average of its peers, Chief Executive Officer Ralph Norris said.

A measure of Asian energy stocks fell 0.3 percent. PetroChina Co., China's largest oil producer, lost 0.9 percent to HK$8.55. Woodside Petroleum, Australia's second-biggest oil producer, dropped 2 percent to A$37.75. Inpex Holdings Inc., Japan's biggest oil explorer, slid 0.5 percent to 938,000 yen.

Crude oil for November delivery fell 2.9 percent on Oct. 20 to expire at $56.82 a barrel in New York. It was the first time this year the contract closest to delivery closed below $57. The December contract lost 1.9 percent to $59.33 a barrel. It recently slipped to $59.29 in after-hours trading.

Economic Growth

The Philippine Stock Exchange Index added 0.3 percent to 2625.52, the highest since August 8, 1997. The measure has advanced 3.2 percent in the past four days after the government said third-quarter economic growth may have exceeded the 5.5 percent expansion reported for the previous three months.

Bank of the Philippine Islands, the nation's most profitable lender, gained 2.6 percent to 60 pesos. Megaworld Corp., the nation's largest builder of residential and office towers, added 3.9 percent to 2.14 pesos.

``Banks and property tend to do well in a growing economy,'' said Mark Canizares, an analyst at Citiseconline.com in Manila. ``These stocks move ahead when the economic outlook looks good.''

Markets were closed in Indonesia and Pakistan for the Eid al-Fitr holiday marking the end of Ramadan, in Malaysia for Deepavali, in Thailand for the anniversary of King Chulalongkorn's death and in New Zealand for Labour Day.

Source:Bloomberg
tag:Asia