Most Asian Stocks Gain as Computer Chip, Metal Prices Advance

By Patrick Rial and Masaki Kondo

Sept. 8 (Bloomberg) -- Most Asian stocks climbed, led by technology and commodity companies, as computer memory prices and metal prices rose. Japanese banks declined after lending growth slowed last month. Elpida Memory Inc., Japan’s largest maker of dynamic random access memory, rose 2.8 percent after the benchmark price for chips climbed to the highest since August 2008. BHP Billiton Ltd., the world’s largest mining company, climbed 1.6 percent in Sydney after a metals gauge in London rose to a one-week high. Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group Inc., Japan’s

biggest publicly traded bank, sank 2.4 percent in Tokyo.

The MSCI Asia Pacific Index gained 0.1 percent to 114.36 as of 10:37 a.m. in Tokyo, with three stocks advancing for every two that declined. The gauge has climbed 62 percent from a more than five-year low on March 9 on speculation stimulus measures worldwide will revive the global economy.

“There’s little news to spur investors to sell,” said Fumiyuki Nakanishi, a str

ategist at Tokyo-based SMBC Friend Securities Co. “We’ll see a slew of companies boost full-year forecasts when they report first-half results.”

Japan’s Nikkei 225 Stock Average added 0.3 percent. JVC Kenwood Holdings Inc. surged 20 percent as the Nikkei newspaper said the company may beat profit forecasts. Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 Index gained 0.9 percent. New Zealand’s NZX 50 Index rose 0.3 percent in Wellington.

Futures on the U.S. Standard & Poor’s 500 Index lost 0.3 percent. Markets in the U.S. were shut yesterday for a public holiday.

Chip Prices

Elpida gained 2.8 percent to 1,194 yen. Prices of the benchmark 1-gigabit computer-memory chip climbed to $1.71 yesterday, from as low as 58 cents in December, according to Dramexchange Technology Inc., operator of Asia’s biggest spot market for the chips.

Advantest Corp., the world’s biggest maker of memory-chip testers, gained 0.7 percent to 2,340 yen. The company expects July-September orders for its chip-testing equipment to exceed levels for the preceding quarter, the Nikkei reported, citing President Haruo Matsuno.

In Sydney, BHP climbed 1.6 percent to A$37.35, while Rio Tinto Group, the world’s third-largest mining company, gained 1.8 percent to A$57.73. A gauge of six metals, including nickel and copper, climbed 0.7 percent in London yesterday to the highest close since Aug. 28.

Higher Forecasts

Sumitomo Metal Mining Co., Japan’s second-largest copper smelter and top producer of nickel, gained 0.8 percent to 1,508 yen after lifting its full-year profit forecast five-fold. car navigation systems and audio devices, the newspaper said.

Mitsubishi UFJ retreated 2.4 percent to 540 yen, and Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group Inc. slid 2.9 percent to 3,680 yen. Lending growth at Japanese banks slowed in August for an eighth-straight month, Bank of Japan figures showed today, as companies cut spending and unemployment climbed to a record.

JVC Kenwood surged 20 percent to 59 yen. The company may have twice as much operating profit as forecast in the quarter to Sept. 30, the Nikkei reported. The company expanded its share of the U.S. market for car navigation systems and audio devices, the paper said