BoJ talk lifts Asia scrips

GLOBAL MARKETS

Asian stocks rose to a record and the Nikkei 225 Stock Average surpassed 18,000 for the first time in six years after Bank of Japan Governor Toshihiko Fukui said interest rates will stay low.

Mitsubishi Estate Co jumped the most in more than a week as property developers may benefit from lower borrowing costs. Seven & I Holdings Co, Japan's largest retailer, climbed.

The Morgan Stanley Capital International Asia-Pacific Index added 0.6 per cent to 147.27 as of 7:12 pm in Tokyo. Japan's Nikkei 225 Stock Average climbed 1.1 per cent to 18,108.79, its first close above 18,000 since May 8, 2000.

Benchmarks climbed around the region, except in Malaysia, Indonesia, the Philippines and New Zealand. Markets are closed in China and Taiwan for the Lunar New Year holiday.

Mitsubishi Estate, Japan's biggest property developer by market value, rose 3.5 per cent to 3,820 yen. Sumitomo Realty & Development Co, the third largest, surged 4.3 per cent to 5,070 yen. Property developers carry relatively high debt loads and low interest rates help keep down the cost of servicing it.

Seven & I gained 1.3 per cent to 3,900 yen, on speculation low rates will encourage consumer spending.

The Bank of Japan raised its benchmark interest rate to 0.5 per cent yesterday from 0.25 per cent.

Nomura, Japan's No 1 brokerage, jumped 4.9 per cent, to 2,770. Daiwa Securities, the second largest, advanced 3.1 per cent to 1,612.

US

US stock and index futures rose. Apple gained in Europe after the maker of personal computers and iPod music players reached an agreement with Cisco Systems to share the iPhone brand.

Standard & Poor's 500 Index futures expiring in March added 1.2 to 1461.6 as of 10:22 am in London. Dow average futures gained 11 to 12,769. Nasdaq-100 Index futures increased 3 to 1847.5.

Europe

European stocks advanced for the first time in three days after earnings from BAE Systems, BASF and Nestle beat analysts' estimates. The Dow Jones Stoxx 600 Index rose 0.6 per cent to 380.62 as of 10:14 am in London. The Stoxx 50 gained 0.6 per cent, while the Euro Stoxx 50, a measure for the 13 nations sharing the euro, climbed 0.6 per cent.

National benchmarks rose in all 17 western European markets that were open except Belgium. France's CAC 40 added 0.7 per cent, while the UK's FTSE climbed 0.5 per cent. Germany's DAX gained 0.6 per cent.

BAE, Europe's biggest weapons maker, advanced 3.5 per cent to 462.75 pence, headed for a 7 1/2-year high. Profit tripled last year to $3.2 billion on the sales of Bradley fighting vehicles and a stake in Airbus.

BASF jumped 4.8 per cent to 79.46 euros, the highest in at least 14 years. The world's largest chemical producer reported a 31 per cent increase in fourth-quarter profit to $961 million, as it made acquisitions and expanded in Asia.

Nestle rose 2.1 per cent to 473.75 Swiss francs. The world's biggest food company posted a 14 per cent gain in full-year profit to 9.2 billion Swiss francs ($7.4 billion).

Allianz climbed 2.7 per cent to 160.80 euros. The insurer said fourth-quarter net income rose 57 per cent to 1.37 billion euros ($1.8 billion), beating the 1.24 billion-euro median estimate of 16 analysts surveyed by Bloomberg News.

Axa climbed 1.8 per cent to 33.74 euros. The region's second-largest insurer reported an 18 per cent rise in 2006 profit to 5.09 billion euros, boosted by higher fees from asset management and sales of life and savings products in France and the US.