May 2 (Bloomberg) -- Asian stocks rose, sending the region's benchmark index to its highest in more than three months, on speculation global credit-market turmoil will ease.
Mizuho Financial Group Inc. led banks higher as corporate bond risk fell for a second day after U.S. and U.K. government officials fueled expectations that credit losses are nearing an end. Toyota Motor Corp. climbed after its U.S. car sales increased for the first time in five months. Samsung Electronics Co. gained as an industry group said it was ``optimistic'' for 2008 computer chip sales.
``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 151.86 as of 7:29 p.m. in Tokyo, the highest since Jan. 14. About four stocks climbed for each that retreated, with a measure of finance stocks advancing the most among the gauge's 10 industry groups. The Asian index has risen 1.8 percent in the past five days, the fifth increase in six weeks.
Japan's Nikkei 225 Stock Average added 2.1 percent to 14,049.26. Most Asian stock benchmarks advanced. China was closed for a holiday, while most of the region's markets were shut yesterday.
Hong Kong's Li & Fung Ltd. surged on speculation sales will increase in the U.S., an economy that U.S. Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson said was still growing ``modestly.'' Sumitomo Realty & Development Co. jumped after the Nikkei newspaper said the property company will report record profit.
Mizuho, National Australia
U.S. stocks rose yesterday to the highest level since January, boosted in part by a rally in the dollar, which rose for a second day against the yen.
Mizuho, Japan's third-biggest bank by market value, jumped 5.1 percent to 539,000 yen. National Australia Bank Ltd., the country's largest by assets, advanced 4.8 percent to A$31.53, its highest close since April 3. DBS Group Holdings Ltd., Southeast Asia's largest lender, rose 1.9 percent to S$20.24 in Singapore, the highest since Jan. 9.
Indexes used as gauges for protecting bonds against default approached the lowest since the current benchmarks started trading in March, as buyers returned to the markets for subprime securities and high-risk, high-yield debt.
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.
Snapping Up Banks
MSCI's Asian index has risen 15 percent from a two-month low set on March 17 on optimism the worst is over for the world's biggest banks and securities firms. They have announced almost $320 billion in losses and writedowns since the beginning of 2007 after the slump in the U.S. subprime-mortgage industry.
``Fear of a systematic collapse in financial markets was so widespread and drove stock prices so low that we're continuing to see bank shares being snapped up as that risk of failure gets wiped away,'' said Takashi Kamiya, Tokyo-based chief economist at T&D Asset Management Co., which oversees $16 billion.
Toyota, the world's No. 2 automaker, advanced 2.8 percent to 5,430 yen, its highest close since March 6. Honda Motor Co., Japan's second-largest automaker, rose 3.9 percent to 3,430 yen. Hyundai Motor Co., South Korea's biggest automaker, added 1.5 percent to 85,900 won, the highest since April 26, 2006.
Chip Sales
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, Autodata Corp said. Toyota had its first gain in five months, buoyed by Yaris small cars and Prius hybrids.
Samsung, the world's biggest memory-chip maker, gained 2.8 percent to 731,000 won. Elpida Memory Inc., Japan's largest, rose 6 percent to 3,880 yen. Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co., the world's No. 1 supplier of customized chips, added 2 percent to NT$68 in Taipei.
Global semiconductor sales rose 3.8 percent last quarter as consumers bought more electronic devices, the California-based Semiconductor Industry Association said yesterday. Demand in the period met the trade group's forecasts and the association said it was ``optimistic'' for full-year sales.
Li & Fung, a Hong Kong trading company that sells goods to Wal-Mart Stores Inc., climbed 3.4 percent to HK$33.35. A government report on April 30 showed the U.S. economy grew 0.6 percent in the first three months of the year, beating the median 0.5 percent forecast of economists in a Bloomberg survey.
Higher Profits
Sumitomo Realty, Japan's third-largest developer, jumped 7.4 percent to 2,690 yen, its biggest advance since April 2. It will likely report an eighth-straight record annual pretax profit, the Nikkei reported today, without citing anyone.
Cosco Corp. Singapore Ltd., the shipbuilding and repair unit of China's biggest shipping company, rallied 6.7 percent to S$3.37 after saying first-quarter profit doubled on demand for new vessels and ship conversions.
Foxconn Technology Co., which makes metal casings for Apple Inc.'s phones and notebooks, slumped 6.9 percent to NT$183 in Taipei, the second-biggest drop on MSCI's Asian index. First- quarter profit fell 23 percent, more than analysts had estimated.
JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut the stock's rating to ``neutral'' from ``overweight.''
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