Asian scrips advance

GLOBAL MARKETS

Asian stocks advanced after Esprit Holdings and Cnooc reported profit that beat estimates, reducing concern earnings in the region will be hampered by a slump in the US housing market.

Esprit, which sells clothes in more than 40 countries, surged to a record. Samsung Electronics Co. paced gains among semiconductor stocks after Seagate Technology, the world's biggest maker of hard-disk drives, boosted revenue forecasts. The Morgan Stanley Capital International Asia-Pacific Index climbed 0.7 per cent to 148.94 at 7:10 p.m. in Tokyo, rebounding from a 1.6 per cent decline yesterday. Technology and materials stocks accounted for 36 per cent of today's gain.

The Nikkei 225 Stock Average added 0.9 per cent, while Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index rose 2.3 per cent. A decline in the yen helped lift Japanese exporters Sony Corp and Nintendo Co.

EUROPE

European stocks rose on speculation earnings will increase even as turmoil in credit markets threatens to hamper economic growth.

Credit Agricole SA, France's second-biggest bank by assets, and Belgian brewer InBev NV paced the advance after the companies reported profits that beat analysts' estimates. Royal Ahold NV climbed after the Dutch supermarket owner said it will return a further 1 billion euros ($1.37 billion) to investors.

The Dow Jones Stoxx 600 Index gained 0.8 per cent to 369.88 at 8:02 a.m. in London. The Stoxx 50 and the Euro Stoxx 50, a measure for the euro region, added 0.9 per cent.

US stocks rose yesterday, sending the Nasdaq Composite Index to its biggest advance in a year, after Seagate Technology boosted its profit and revenue forecast. Asian equities climbed today after earnings from Esprit Holdings Ltd. topped analysts' estimates.

US

US stock-index futures dropped after Lehman Brothers Holdings said earnings at the country's largest securities firms will be hurt by the credit-market turmoil.

Goldman Sachs Group declined in Europe after Lehman Brothers cut its share-price projection 10 per cent. Dell Inc. fell before the world's second-largest computer seller reports business results. Third-quarter earnings "will be significantly impacted by the dislocation in the credit and asset backed/mortgage markets", Roger Freeman, an analyst at Lehman Brothers in New York, wrote in a report published today.