Microchip Stocks Help Rally ASIA MARKETPLACE By Bloomberg

By Chen Shiyin and Makiko Suzuki

Makiko Suzuki reported from Tokyo.

* Asian stocks advanced for a sixth consecutive session Thursday, the longest winning streak in almost eight months, after prices of computer-memory chips jumped and a report showed that Japan’s export growth almost doubled in May.

Samsung Electronics and Toshiba led technology shares higher, helping the Morgan Stanley Capital International Asia Pacific index climb 0.72 point to a record close of 154.56.

China Mobile led the Hang Seng index in Hong Kong to a new high after the Chinese government gave its approval for mainland brokerages to buy shares overseas. “People are more optimistic about the longer-term outlook and look for opportunities to buy shares that lagged benchmarks, such as semiconductor stocks,” said Hiroshi Chano at Yasuda Asset Management in Tokyo.

The Nikkei 225 in Japan added 28.62 to 18,240.30, its highest close since May 2000. Benchmarks in Australia and Thailand fell, the only declining indexes among the 10 biggest regional markets. The CSI 300 index in China also climbed to a new high.

Samsung, the world’s leading maker of computer-memory chips, added 12,000 won to 589,000 won. Hynix Semiconductor, the second largest, surged 2,350 won to 34,500 won.

Prices for the benchmark 512-megabit dynamic random access memory chip, or DRAM, soared 17 percent to $2.21 on Wednesday, according to Dramexchange.com, the biggest spot market for chips in Asia.

Japan’s exports rose 15.1 percent from a year earlier, compared with 8.2 percent in April, the Ministry of Finance said. The gain was more than economists expected, a Bloomberg survey showed, and helped the trade surplus widen 9.3 percent to 389.5 billion.

Toshiba, the world’s fourth-largest maker of notebook computers, rose 20 to 1,002. Canon, the world’s largest digital camera maker, added 30 to 7,370.

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