Japan Stocks Rise

Japan Stocks Rise in New York on Earnings Outlook; KDDI Falls

By Masaki Kondo

Jan. 26 (Bloomberg) -- Japanese stocks rose in New York on speculation corporate earnings will improve, after the Nikkei 225 Stock Average had its biggest two-day decline this year.

New York-traded securities of Sharp Corp., Japan’s largest maker of liquid-crystal displays, added 1.3 percent. Those of Nomura Holdings Inc. advanced 1.8 percent, after the shares fell 3.6 percent in two days in Tokyo following a U.S. government proposal to reduce risk-taking at banks. Chipmakers may be active after Texas Instruments Inc., the second-largest U.S. chipmaker, forecast profit and sales that beat analysts’ estimates.

“I’m expecting to see a slew of businesses lifting their full-year forecasts” for the year to March 31, said Fumiyuki Nakanishi, a strategist at Tokyo-based SMBC Friend Securities Co. “Once investors recover from the shock caused by the U.S. proposal, they will come to realize Japanese manufacturers will benefit from an improving global economy.”

The Bank of New York Mellon Japan ADR Index, which tracks American depositary receipts of Japanese companies, climbed 0.9 percent yesterday. Futures on the Nikkei 225 Stock Average expiring in March closed at 10,465 in Chicago yesterday, 0.4 percent lower than 10,510 in Osaka, Japan.

The Bank of New York Mellon Asia ADR Price Index also gained 0.9 percent yesterday. New Zealand’s NZX 50 Index added 0.3 percent in Wellington today, and Australian markets are closed.

The MSCI Asia Pacific Index has risen 0.9 percent this year. Companies on the gauge are priced at 1.6 times book value, compared with 2.2 times for the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index in the U.S. and 1.6 times for the Dow Jones Stoxx 600 Index in Europe.

New York-traded securities of KDDI Corp., Japan’s No. 2 mobile-telephone-network operator, slid 2.8 percent after the company agreed to buy Liberty Global Inc.’s stake in Jupiter Telecommunications Co., a Japanese cable-television provider.

U.S. President Barack Obama last week proposed limiting the size and trading activities of financial institutions as a way to reduce risk-taking and prevent another financial crisis. The proposals would ban banks from running proprietary trading operations solely for their own profit and sponsoring hedge funds and private equity funds.