Asia zooms on Fed cut

GLOBAL MARKETS/ STOCK REPORT

Asian stocks rose the most in a month after the Federal Reserve cut interest rates and China Mobile reported higher-than-expected earnings, easing concern that slowing global growth would derail profit.

Macquarie Group climbed after Goldman Sachs Group and Lehman Brothers Holdings reported earnings that beat analyst estimates.

Canon, which gets a third of its sales from the Americas, surged in Tokyo after the dollar strengthened the most in nine years against the yen yesterday. Cheung Kong (Holdings) gained in Hong Kong after the city lowered borrowing costs.

The MSCI Asia Pacific Index jumped 2.6 per cent to 136.35 as of 5:16 pm in Tokyo, poised for its biggest advance since February 14. More than four stocks rose for each that declined. The index is still down 14 per cent this year.

Japan's Nikkei 225 Stock Average climbed 2.5 per cent to 12,260.44 and Australia's S&P/ASX 200 Index rose 4 per cent, the region's biggest increase. Benchmarks in other Asian markets gained except Indonesia, Sri Lanka and Vietnam.

EUROPE
European stock-index futures climbed following the biggest rally in US shares since 2002 as the Federal Reserve's cut in interest rates helped bolster speculation banks will weather the credit-market turmoil.

UBS, Europe's largest bank by assets, and Deutsche Bank may advance after their US-traded securities gained.

Futures on the Dow Jones Euro Stoxx 50 Index, a benchmark for the euro region, added 40 points, or 1.1 per cent, to 3,598 at 7:37 am in London.

The UK's FTSE 100 Index may increase 37 points, according to CMC Markets.

The Fed slashed interest rates by three-quarters of a percentage point to 2.25 percent to shore up the economy and boost confidence in the financial system.

US
US stock futures fell, following the Standard & Poor's 500 Index's biggest gain in five years, after Sanford C Bernstein & Co said Lehman Brothers Holdings may have more writedowns, and a drop in oil pushed energy producers lower.

Lehman, which jumped 46 per cent yesterday after reporting earnings that beat analyst estimates, declined in Germany as Bernstein analyst Brad Hintz said the securities firm would still be "exposed to further writedowns" in upcoming quarters.

Dow Jones Industrial Average futures sank 73 to 12,332 and Nasdaq 100 Index futures lost 12.25 to 1,758.75.