Asian stocks rose, helping the MSCI Asia Pacific Index rebound from its biggest drop in a month, as the weaker yen boosted Japanese exporters.

Canon Inc., which gets 28 percent of its sales from the Americas, climbed 3.2 percent in Tokyo. Komatsu Ltd., the world’s second-biggest maker of earthmoving equipment, added 1.4 percent after Credit Suisse Group AG upgraded the stock. Rio Tinto Group, the world’s No. 3 mining company, rose 1.7 percent in Sydney after agreeing to sell a stake in the cable division of its Alcan Engineered Products business.
The MSCI Asia Pacific Index gained 0.3 percent to 116.16 as of 10 a.m. in Tokyo. The gauge declined 1.7 percent yesterday, the most in a month, on concern a six-month rally had overvalued prospects for company earnings. “There will be a rebound from yesterday’s drop,” said Fumiyuki Nakanishi, a strategist at SMBC Friend Securities Co. in Tokyo. “Investors are concerned the market will enter a decline. They’ll likely focus on news for specific stocks.”
Japan’s Nikkei 225 Stock Average gained 0.5 percent. Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 Index rose 0.6 percent. Hong Kong’s stock exchange delayed the opening of securities and derivatives trading today after the city’s weather service maintained its No. 8 storm signal.
Futures on the U.S. Standard & Poor’s 500 Index lost 0.1 percent. The gauge advanced 0.6 percent yesterday to the highest close since Oct. 6 amid gains in utility, industrial and financial shares.
---------Lehman Anniversary
Tuesday is the one-year anniversary of Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc.’s bankruptcy filing, which exacerbated the credit crunch and helped drag the global economy into its worst slowdown since World War II. Losses from the crisis at the world’s biggest financial institutions since the start of 2007 have climbed to more than $1.6 trillion.
The MSCI Asia Pacific Index has climbed 65 percent from a more than five-year low on March 9 as government stimulus measures worldwide dragged economies out of recession.
Stocks on the gauge trade at 23.6 times estimated earnings for this year, compared with 17.4 times for the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index in the U.S. and 15.5 times for Europe’s Dow Jones Stoxx 600 Index.
Canon climbed 3.2 percent to 3,560 yen as the yen depreciated to as much as 91.08 today, boosting the value of repatriated overseas sales at Japanese companies. The Japanese currency strengthened to 90.21 per dollar yesterday, a level not seen since Feb. 12.
Komatsu rose 1.4 percent to 1,725 yen after Credit Suisse lifted the stock to “outperform” from “neutral.” The brokerage raised its rating on Japan’s machinery industry to “overweight” from “market weight.”
Rio Tinto gained 1.7 percent to A$59.03. The company said yesterday it took the first step in divesting its Alcan Engineered Products business by agreeing to sell 56 percent of the cable division to Platinum Equity LLC. Rio Tinto will remain a supplier of aluminum rod and molten metal to the unit’s plants in North America, the London-based company said.
(Source: Bloomberg)