Asian stocks rise

GLOBAL MARKETS/ STOCK REPORT

Asian stocks rose, led by Posco and Hyundai Heavy Industries, after South Korea reported its fastest economic growth in almost two years and billionaire Warren Buffett said he liked the country's equities.

"The Korean economy is doing pretty well, helped in part by stronger consumer spending," said Shane Oliver, who helps manage $83 billion at AMP Capital Investors in Sydney.

Cheung Kong (Holdings) paced gains by Hong Kong's real estate developers on expectations borrowing costs will fall and spur home demand. Canon led Japanese exporters lower after the yen strengthened against the dollar.

China's CSI 300 Index fell 4.6 per cent, the region's worst performer, on speculation the country's central bank will raise interest rates to rein in runaway economic growth.

The Morgan Stanley Capital International Asia-Pacific Index gained 0.1 per cent to 164.67 at 6:27 pm in Tokyo. South Korea's Kospi index jumped 2.2 per cent, the third-best performance in the region after Indonesia and Thailand.

Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index gained 1.8 per cent to a new high of 29854.49. Japan's Nikkei 225 Stock Average dropped 0.5 per cent to 16284.17, while the broader Topix index fell 1 per cent.

Europe
European stocks rose after France Telecom SA and ABB, the world's largest builder of electricity networks, reassured investors that earnings in the region will keep growing.

France Telecom climbed the most in 4 1/2 years after lifting a forecast for profitability. ABB headed for its biggest gain since August after reporting third-quarter earnings that topped analyst estimates.

BP, Europe's second-largest oil company, advanced as oil rallied, while Vedanta Resources led mining shares higher after copper prices increased.

The Dow Jones Stoxx 600 Index added 0.8 per cent to 380.47 at 10:34 am in London.

US
US stock-index futures were little changed. Symantec, the world's biggest maker of security software, fell in Europe after giving forecasts for this quarter that missed analysts' estimates.

Merrill Lynch advanced as Citigroup recommended buying shares in the country's third-biggest securities firm.

Standard & Poor's 500 Index futures expiring in December lost 0.1 to 1521.80 as of 11:03 am in London. Dow Jones Industrial Average futures gained 8 to 13714. Nasdaq-100 Index futures increased 5.5 to 2208.50.