(Bloomberg) -- Asian stocks rose, led by commodity companies, as Goldman, Sachs & Co. recommended buying Mitsubishi Corp. shares. Finance companies declined.
Mitsubishi Corp., a trading company that gets 47 percent of its revenue from metals and energy products, climbed 4.5 percent. T&D Holdings Inc., Japan’s biggest life insurer, slumped 13 percent after posting a wider-than-estimated full-year loss. Billabong International Ltd., Australia’s largest surfwear maker, tumbled 16 percent after a share sale.
The MSCI Asia Pacific Index rose 0.5 percent to 99.82 at 12:04 p.m. in Tokyo, set for its highest close since Oct. 6. Through yesterday, the gauge had surged 41 percent from a more than five-year low on March 9. Concern that stock valuations had overpriced earnings prospects gave the measure its biggest weekly decline in two months last week.
“People are buying and selling stocks for quick returns, driving the market up and down like a carnival,” said Yoshihiro Ito, senior strategist at Tokyo-based Okasan Asset Management Co., which oversees the equivalent of $9.3 billion.
Japan’s Nikkei 225 Stock Average advanced 0.4 percent to 9,330.46 as a government report showed the economy contracted an annualized 15.2 percent in the three months ended March 31, less than some economists predicted. Most markets rose, except for Singapore and Hong Kong.
James Hardie Industries NV, the biggest seller of home siding in the U.S., declined 2.3 percent in Sydney after profit slumped in the fourth quarter. Kawasaki Kisen Kaisha Ltd., Japan’s No. 3 shipping line, added 2.9 percent as commodity shipping rates gained for a 13th-straight session.
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Futures on the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index slipped 0.3 percent. The gauge dropped 0.2 percent in New York yesterday as a Commerce Department report showed housing starts sank 13 percent in April, while economists had expected an increase. Financial shares slumped after Moody’s Investors Service said commercial property values have tumbled.
Mitsubishi jumped 4.5 percent to 1,736 in Tokyo. Mitsui & Co., Mitsubishi’s closest rival, added 4.4 percent to 1,160 yen. Goldman Sachs raised its view on Japan’s trading house sector to “attractive” from “neutral.” The brokerage upgraded Mitsubishi to “buy” from “neutral.”
“Demand for resources looks likely to rebound and investors are willing to buy commodity-related companies on expectations for an earnings recovery,” said Hiroichi Nishi, general manager at Nikko Cordial Securities Co.
Crude oil futures in New York rose 1.1 percent to $59.65 a barrel yesterday, the highest settlement since Nov. 10.
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