Asian stocks get tech boost

GLOBAL MARKETS/ STOCK REPORT

Asian stocks rose for the first time in three days, led by technology and energy companies, after analysts boosted Samsung Electronics Co's price target and crude oil advanced to a record.

Samsung Electronics, the world's biggest computer-memory maker, climbed after JPMorgan Chase & Co raised its stock estimate.

Woodside Petroleum, Australia's second-biggest oil explorer, jumped the most in a week. Cathay Pacific Airways dropped the most in two weeks in Hong Kong after Goldman Sachs Group Inc cut its target price for the stock, citing fuel prices.

The MSCI Asia Pacific Index added 0.6 per cent to 143.81 as of 6:13 p.m. in Tokyo. Nine of the index's 10 industry groups advanced. The measure has fallen 8.8 per cent this year on concern the US economy will slip into a recession. About six stocks declined on Thursday for every five that rose.

Japan's Nikkei 225 Stock Average lost 1.3 per cent to 12,945.30. Fanuc, an industrial robot maker, and Kubota Corp. led manufacturers lower after a report showed machinery orders fell. Toshiba Corp, Japan's largest supplier of nuclear reactors, climbed after saying it's in talks to build two plants in Florida.

Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index added 0.8 per cent, led by financial shares, after Industrial & Commercial Bank of China Ltd. and two others were shortlisted to bid for Wing Lung Bank.

EUROPE
European stock-index futures dropped on concern profit growth will slow as the region's central bank keeps borrowing costs at a six-year high to contain inflation.

Siemens AG, Europe's biggest engineering company, and Nokia Oyj, the world's largest maker of mobile phones, might follow their US-traded securities lower. Energy companies including BP Plc and Total SA may limit declines after oil reached a record yesterday in New York.

Futures on the Dow Jones Euro Stoxx 50 Index, a benchmark for the euro region, decreased 14, or 0.4 per cent, to 3,679 at 7:31 a.m. in London. The UK's FTSE 100 Index may fall 11, according to CMC Markets.

US
US stock-index futures fell after Bed Bath & Beyond Inc. forecast annual earnings that trailed analysts' estimates and Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. liquidated three investment funds because of "market disruptions".

Bed Bath & Beyond dropped in Europe as the company said profit declined for the second straight quarter. Intel Corp, the world's biggest computer-chip maker, and Analog Devices gained after Bank of America Corp recommended buying the shares.

Standard & Poor's 500 Index futures expiring in June lost 4.9, or 0.4 per cent, to 1,355 as of 10:11 a.m. in London. Dow Jones Industrial Average futures slipped 47 to 12,527 and Nasdaq 100 Index futures decreased 3.75 to 1,833.5.

Analysts have cut their projections for first-quarter profits every week this year as evidence grows that more than $230 billion in global losses and asset writedowns at financial firms have pushed the economy into a recession.

Earnings at S&P 500 companies probably fell an average of 11.3 per cent from a year earlier, according to estimates compiled by Bloomberg.