Asian stocks rise

Stock Report

Asian stocks rose after retailer David Jones said holiday sales beat expectations and Goldman, Sachs & Co told investors to buy shares of Japanese electronic component makers such as Murata Manufacturing Company.

Energy stocks declined as crude-oil prices slid and DBS Vickers Hong Kong downgraded shares of PetroChina Corporation to "fully valued." Cnooc and Inpex Holdings Inc dropped.

The Morgan Stanley Capital International Asia-Pacific Index added 0.08 point to 140.29 at 7 pm in Tokyo. The measure earlier climbed as much as 0.3 per cent and fell as much as 0.1 per cent.

Japan's Nikkei 225 Stock Average was little changed at 17,202.46. Singapore's Straits Times Index rose to a record.

Stock indexes also advanced in China, Taiwan, Malaysia, the Philippines, Indonesia and Pakistan. They fell elsewhere. US markets were closed yesterday for a holiday.

David Jones, Australia's second-biggest department store chain, rose 6.9 per cent to A$4.35.

The stock posted its biggest gain since February 22 after the company said first-half profit will surge 30 per cent from a year earlier on stronger-than-expected Christmas sales.

Murata Manufacturing, the world's largest maker of ceramic parts, climbed 4.5 per cent to 8,590 yen. Taiyo Yuden Co, a maker of ceramic capacitors and other electronic components, jumped 7.8 per cent to 2,345 yen. Nippon Chemi-Con Corp advanced 5.3 per cent to 1,066 yen.

PetroChina, China's largest oil producer, dropped 1.4 per cent to HK$9.82. Gideon Lo, an analyst at DBS Vickers, set his 12-month price target on the stock at HK$10.19.

Thomas Wong, an analyst at UBS AG in Hong Kong, yesterday reduced his price estimate for the shares by 5.7 percent to HK$10.

Meanwhile, European stocks rose in the first week of 2007 as speculation about earnings growth and increased takeovers offset a slump in commodity shares.

Deutsche Telekom AG and KPN NV led a rally by telecommunication companies after strategists recommended investors increase their holdings in the industry. BHP Billiton and BP Plc retreated as oil and metal prices dropped.

The Dow Jones Stoxx 600 Index added 0.1 percent this week.

The Stoxx 50 rose 0.7 percent and the Euro Stoxx 50, a gauge for the 13 nations using the euro, advanced 0.2 percent. Stock markets were closed on Jan. 1 for the New Year holiday.