Asia rises for second day

GLOBAL MARKETS/ STOCK REPORT

Asian stocks rose for a second day, led by commodity producers and shipping lines, as China returned from a weeklong holiday and repaired power lines and railroads damaged by the worst snowstorms in more than 50 years.

BHP Billiton climbed to a one-week high after metal prices gained for a fifth day. China Shenhua Energy led energy producers higher as fuel supplies remain limited in China.

"The volumes of raw-material traffic are going to remain reasonably strong,'' said Angus Gluskie, who helps manage the equivalent of $500 million at White Funds Management in Sydney.

``People have also remained reasonably comfortable on the outlook of the diversified miners and in the short run, prices appear quite robust.''

The MSCI Asia Pacific Index advanced 0.2 per cent to 139.86 at 3:35 pm in Tokyo, paring earlier gains of 1.3 per cent and adding to a 0.2 per cent climb yesterday. Japan's Nikkei 225 Stock Average gained 0.4 per cent to 13,068.30, its first consecutive advance since January 25.

China's CSI 300 Index dropped 1.8 per cent on its first day of trading after the Lunar New Year holidays. Other Asian benchmarks gained apart from South Korea, New Zealand and Australia, where a measure of the nation's consumer confidence declined to a 15-month low. Taiwan was little changed.

EUROPE
European stocks declined after profits from ThyssenKrupp missed analyst estimates and brokerages recommended selling shares of Wolseley and Safran.

ThyssenKrupp, Wolseley and Safran fell more than 3 per cent. ABB, the world's largest maker of power networks, dropped after announcing Chief Executive Officer Fred Kindle was leaving the company.

The Dow Jones Stoxx 600 Index lost 0.6 per cent to 321.01 as of 9:25 am in London. Futures on the Standard & Poor's 500 Index less than 0.1 per cent, and the MSCI Asia Pacific Index slipped 0.1 per cent.

US
US stock-index futures rose after a sales report from Applied Materials revived speculation earnings may grow even as consumer spending falters.

Genentech, the biggest US maker of anti-cancer drugs, climbed after the company said its Avastin treatment helped slow the spread of breast tumors in a clinical trial.

Standard and Poor's 500 Index futures expiring in March added 4.4 points to 1,354.20 at 9:48 am in London. Dow Jones Industrial Average futures added 24 t0 12,410. Nasdaq-100 Index futures advanced 6 to 1,796.

US stocks climbed for a second day yesterday, led by financial shares, on expectations Warren Buffett, the world's No. 1 investor, will help stem credit losses by offering to shore up the municipal bond market.