Asia Stocks Advance This Week; Banks, Electronics Lead Rally

May 3 (Bloomberg) -- Asian stocks rose this week, led by banks and consumer electronics makers, on speculation turmoil in global credit markets will ease.

Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group Inc., Japan's largest bank by assets, advanced. Matsushita Electric Industrial Co. posted its biggest gain since 1986 in Osaka, Japan, after its profit forecast beat analysts' estimates. Origin Energy Ltd. surged to a record in Sydney after receiving a A$12.9 billion ($12 billion) takeover bid. Newcrest Mining, Australia's largest gold producer, slumped after the price of the metal fell.

``Definitely the worst of the credit crisis is behind us,'' said Ivan Leung, Hong Kong-based chief investment strategist at JPMorgan Private Bank, which oversees $400 billion in assets. ``Risk aversion has begun to fade away and we're back to a normal environment.''

The MSCI Asia Pacific Index added 1.6 percent to 151.62, gaining for the second straight week. The benchmark climbed 7.8 percent in April, its biggest monthly advance since September 2005.

A measure of bank stocks on the regional benchmark rose 4.7 percent this week, the largest gain among 10 industry groups. An index of commodity producers slumped 1 percent.

Japan's Nikkei 225 Stock Average rose 1.3 percent, capping a seven-week, 15 percent advance. China's benchmark CSI 300 Index added 4.1 percent. Asian stock markets were closed on May 1 for a holiday apart from Japan, Australia and New Zealand. China's stock markets were also shut on May 2.

Banks Advance

Mitsubishi UFJ rose 8.8 percent to 1,131 yen. National Australia Bank Ltd., the nation's biggest by assets, climbed 7.6 percent to A$31.53.

U.S. Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson said this week in a Bloomberg Television interview that the credit crisis is probably more than half over. His comments were echoed by John Gieve, the Bank of England's deputy governor for financial stability, who said that appetite for riskier assets will recover in coming months.

Financial companies have announced almost $320 billion in losses and asset writedowns since the beginning of 2007 because of the collapse in the U.S. subprime-mortgage industry.

Matsushita, the world's largest maker of consumer electronics, surged 17 percent to 2,490 yen, its biggest five-day advance since the week ended Aug. 22, 1986. At least four brokerages upgraded the stock after the maker of Panasonic-brand products forecast profit will climb 10 percent to a record this year as the Beijing Olympic Games helps spur flat-panel television sales.

Brother, Sony

Brother Industries Ltd., a maker of fax machines and printers, soared 19 percent to 1,355 yen, the steepest weekly rise since November, after it forecast full-year profit to rise to 28.5 billion yen ($272 million), higher than the median estimate of 26 billion yen by analysts in a Bloomberg survey.

Sony Corp., the world's second-largest-maker of electronics, advanced 2.9 percent to 4,920 yen, its highest since Feb. 29, after the Nikkei newspaper reported May 2 the company's profit increased fivefold last year.

Origin Energy surged 39 percent to a record A$13.91 in Sydney after receiving an unsolicited cash bid from BG Group, the U.K.'s third-largest natural-gas producer. Origin had the biggest percentage gain on MSCI's Asian index of 1,145 companies.

Hyundai Motor Co., South Korea's largest automaker, added 3.5 percent to 85,900 won in Seoul after Asian automakers sold more cars in U.S. Sales of Japanese and South Korean brands grew at least 5 percent in April, giving them a record 44.7 percent of the U.S. new-vehicle market, according to Autodata Corp. Mazda Motor Corp. climbed 6.5 percent to 459 yen, capping a 27 percent, five-week advance.

Newcrest Mining lost 9.2 percent to A$27.60. Sumitomo Metal Mining Co., Japan's biggest gold producer, plunged 11 percent to 1,810 yen, the most since the five days to March 21.

Gold headed for a third consecutive weekly drop, its longest losing streak in a year, as the dollar strengthened against the euro, diminishing the appeal of the metal as a currency hedge. Gold for immediate delivery rose $3.76, or 0.4 percent, to $856.45 an ounce as of 11:44 p.m. in London, a weekly decline of 3.4 percent.