Asia rises for 3rd day

GLOBAL MARKETS

Asian stocks rose for a third day, led by Japanese banks after Mizuho Financial Group forecast record earnings.

Nintendo Co led technology shares higher after saying US sales of Wii video-game consoles may reach 35 million. Airline stocks gained on expectations Singapore Airlines will buy a stake in China Eastern Airlines Corp.

Financial shares climbed the most among the 10 industry groups included in the Morgan Stanley Capital International Asia-Pacific Index. Mizuho, Japan's No. 2 lender, posted its biggest jump in more than a year. The MSCI index rose 0.1 percent to 149.56 at 5.45pm in Tokyo, 0.4 per cent below the record close of 150.12 set May 9. China's CSI 300 Index climbed to a new high after a newspaper report damped speculation the government would increase fees on stock transactions.

Japan's Nikkei 225 Stock Average climbed 0.1 per cent to 17,705.12. Other markets gained, except in Hong Kong, Malaysia, Thailand, India, Sri Lanka and the Philippines. Sri Lanka's benchmark stock index fell for a second day, paced by National Development Bank after the nation's biggest corporate lender outside government control said first-quarter profit plunged 77 per cent.

Europe

European stocks rose to a 6 1/2-year high, paced by Rio Tinto Group after BHP Billiton's Chief Executive Officer Chip Goodyear said he's considering acquisitions, fuelling speculation takeovers will increase. The Dow Jones Stoxx 600 Index added 0.4 per cent to 394.79 as of 8:30am in London.

The Stoxx 50 increased 0.4 per cent, and the Euro Stoxx 50, a measure for the 13 nations sharing the euro, advanced 0.2 per cent. National benchmarks gained in all 16 western European markets that were open except for Norway. The UK's FTSE 100 rose 0.3 per cent. Germany's DAX and France's CAC 40 both increased 0.2 per cent.

US

US stock-index futures rose after Alcan said that Alcoa's hostile bid was designed in part to protect itself from a takeover, intensifying mergers and acquisitions speculation.

Financial and real-estate companies gained yesterday after Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson said the slump in the housing market is "largely" over. S&P's 500 Index futures expiring in June added 6 to 1531.30 as of 11:02am in London. Dow Jones Industrial Average futures climbed 51 to 13,610. Nasdaq-100 Index futures increased 5.25 to 1925.50.