Steel Makers Lead Gains MARKET ROUNDUP: STOCKS BUSINESS ASIA By Bloomberg

By Chen Shiyin and Darren Boey

SINGAPOREShares of Asian steel makers rose Thursday, led by Posco, after Nippon Steel increased its full-year profit forecast to a record and Hyundai Steel said it was considering raising rates for its main product. Rio Tinto Group rose to a six week-high on speculation rivals BHP Billiton and Vale do Rio Doce may make a joint bid. Samsung Electronics, the world’s second-largest chipmaker, and Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing led electronics makers higher as investors judged recent declines excessive given the resilience of the global economy.

“The beauty of cyclicals is that if you can buy them at a very distressed level, then you can enjoy them on the way up,” said Henry Chan, head of Asia investments in Hong Kong at Baring Asset Management (Asia). “What you probably have to bet on is better-than- expected global growth.”

The Morgan Stanley Capital International Asia-Pacific index added 0.3 percent to 151.56 in Tokyo, with measures of materials, energy and technology shares posting the biggest gains among the regional benchmark’s 10 industry groups. It earlier dropped as much as 1.4 percent after U.S. reports pointed to a deepening property slump and slowing jobs growth in the biggest export market for Asia.

Toyota Motor, the second-largest seller of cars in the United States, led declines in Japan, where twice as many stocks declined as rose on the Tokyo Stock Exchange’s first section. The Topix index lost 0.1 percent, while the Nikkei 225 stock average added 0.6 percent to 16,257.00.

The South Korean Kospi index climbed 1.2 percent, after losing as much as 1.1 percent earlier, after the government said the economy was expanding without fueling inflation. Benchmarks also advanced in China, India, Singapore and Taiwan.

Posco, the third-biggest Asian steel maker, jumped 4.4 percent to 596,000 won, or $635.74. Nippon Steel, the No. 1 Asian producer of the alloy, added 1.8 percent to 814, or $7.03. Hyundai Steel, the second-largest South Korean steel maker, added 4.2 percent to 76,600 won. Baoshan Steel, the biggest Chinese steel maker, climbed 2.4 percent to 19.57 yuan, or $2.59.

Toyota, which outsold Ford Motor in the United States last month, lost 0.6 percent to 6,630. Hon Hai Precision Industry, the world’s largest contract electronics manufacturer which supplies iPods to Apple, lost 1.3 percent to 236.50 New Taiwan dollars, or $7.15. Hynix Semiconductor, the second-biggest memory chipmaker, declined 2.3 percent to 32,050 won.

Macquarie, the largest Australian securities company, slipped 1.2 percent to 71.19 Australian dollars, or $58.63. Westpac Banking, the fourth-biggest Australian lender, fell 1.2 percent to 26.73 dollars.

Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group slid 0.9 percent to 1.08 million. Kookmin Bank lost 0.9 percent to 75,500 won. Japan Securities Finance slumped 13 percent to 1,082.

Hana Financial Group, the fourth-largest Korean financial company by assets, dropped 3.7 percent to 43,850 won.

Woodside Petroleum gained 2 percent to 46.10 dollars. Santos gained 0.9 percent to 12.99 dollars, while PTT, the largest Thai oil company, rose 0.6 percent to 316 baht, or $9.86.

In Europe, the Dow Jones EuroStoxx 50 fell 13.02 points or 0.31 percent to 4222.39. The FTSE 100 fell 18.20 points or 0.29 percent to 6252.50. The CAC fell 14.78 points or 0.27 percent to 5636.77 while the DAX fell 28.50 points or 0.38 percent to 7559.53.

Originally published by Bloomberg News.

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