Asian stocks hit 3-week high

STOCK REPORT

Asian stocks rose to the highest in three weeks as benchmarks in Hong Kong, China, Australia and Singapore closed at all-time highs.

BHP Billiton and Nippon Mining Holdings climbed as prices of metals and oil rebounded. Samsung Electronics Co, Asia's biggest maker of mobile phones and flat screens, and Westfield Group, the largest operator of US shopping malls, gained after US consumer confidence rose to the highest since 2004, adding to speculation sales in the region's largest export market will grow.

"`With higher commodities prices and positive economic news out of the US,'' stocks are well supported, said Tom Murphy, who manages about $1 billion in Asian investments at Deutsche Bank AG in Sydney.

The Morgan Stanley Capital International Asia-Pacific Index added 0.9 percent to 141.52 at 6:06 p.m. in Tokyo, heading for the highest close since Jan. 2. China Mobile Ltd. led the Hang Seng Index to a new high after adding a record number of new subscribers last month. China's Shanghai and Shenzhen 300 Index, Australia's S&P/ASX 200 Index and Singapore's Straits Times Index also closed at all-time highs.

Japan's Nikkei 225 Stock Average rose 0.7 per cent to 17,424.18. Banks including Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group Inc rallied after Aiful Corp., the nation's largest consumer lender, said it will cut jobs and shrink its network to reduce losses.

Chinese insurers rose in Hong Kong after PICC Property & Casualty Co. said 2006 pretax profit will gain more than 80 percent and regulators said the industry expanded by 14.4 per cent. BHP, the world's biggest mining company by market value and production, climbed 2.1 percent to A$25.33.

Rio Tinto Group, the second-biggest by market value and third by production, rose 1.8 percent to A$72.92. Nippon Mining, Japan's biggest copper producer, climbed 1.4 per cent to 848 yen. A measure of six metals traded on the London Metal Exchange climbed 1.2 percent on January 19.

Copper gained 0.7 percent, lead rose 1 per cent and nickel gained 2.1 percent. Copper added 1 per cent in New York.

Crude oil jumped 3 percent to close at $51.99 a barrel in New York, the biggest one-day increase since Oct. 25. Futures touched $49.90 on Jan. 18, the lowest in 19 months. Oil was recently at $52.47 in after-hours trading.

Woodside Petroleum, Australia's second-biggest oil producer after BHP, added 2.5 percent to A$36.72. Inpex Holdings Inc, Japan's largest oil company, climbed 0.5 percent to 943,000 yen. PetroChina Co., the nation's largest, rose 1 per cent to HK$9.67 in Hong Kong.

In the US, the Standard & Poor's 500 Index climbed 0.3 per cent, snapping a two-day drop, as a private survey showed that Americans entered the new year more confident than at any time in three years. The Reuters/University of Michigan's preliminary index of sentiment rose to 98 this month from 91.7 in December as energy prices retreated and a strengthening labour market pushed wages higher. The gauge averaged 87.3 in 2006.

South Korea's Samsung rose 1 per cent to 591,000 won, while Australia's Westfield added 1.5 percent to A$21.02.

Hynix Semiconductor Inc., Asia's second-largest maker of computer-memory chips, climbed 2.2 per cent to 32,900 won. Singapore's Venture Corp, a maker of electronics for customers including Hewlett-Packard Co., rose 3.7 per cent to S$14.20.

In Hong Kong, PICC, China's biggest non-life insurer, jumped 9.6 percent to HK$4.47. Ping An Insurance (Group) Co, China's second-biggest insurer, added 2.7 percent to HK$38.25.

Wang Yi, PICC's president, said pretax profit last year at the company will rise by more than 80 percent on investment returns from the stock market.

Separately, China's insurance market expanded 14.4 per cent to 564.1 billion yuan ($73 billion) last year as the world's fastest-growing major economy generated demand for insurance coverage, according to documents issued yesterday at the China Insurance Regulatory Commission's annual conference in Beijing.

Singapore's Straits Times Index gained 2.4 per cent, rising to an all-time high for the third straight session. DBS Group Holdings Ltd. climbed on speculation a proposed corporate tax cut by the government will boost earnings.