James Hardie Industries SE, a building-materials supplier that counts the U.S. as its biggest market, added 0.4 percent in Sydney. Samsung Electronics, Asia’s largest consumer electronics maker, gained 2.3 percent in Seoul. Nintendo Co. sank 4.9 percent in Tokyo after the world’s largest maker of video-game machines forecast earnings this fiscal year that missed analysts’ estimates.

“We still believe that there will be good growth in the U.S., with GDP picking up in the second half of the year,” said Daphne Roth, the head of Asian-equity research at ABN Amro Private Banking in Singapore, which manages about $217 billion for clients. “The global economic growth picture is quite good. We’ve been getting a lot of positive surprises in the earnings reports.”

The MSCI Asia Pacific Index (MXAP) added 0.1 percent to 124.44 as of 10 a.m. in Tokyo, with about three shares rising for every two that fell. Asian stocks extended their rally for a third day, erasing losses earlier this week, amid signs the U.S. economy is improving and as profits from technology companies including Apple Inc. surpassed analysts’ estimates.

Japan’s Nikkei 225 Stock Average (NKY) rose 0.2 percent, while South Korea’s Kospi Index advanced 0.8 percent. Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 Index gained 0.2 percent.

U.S. Futures

Futures on the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index fell 0.3 percent today. The index advanced 0.7 percent in New York yesterday, capping its best three-day rally since February.

Exporters advanced as a report showed contracts to buy U.S. homes increased more than forecast in March, supporting the Federal Reserve’s day-earlier outlook for the economy when it upgraded its estimates for growth and unemployment this year.

The MSCI Asia Pacific Index has risen 9.2 percent this year through yesterday, compared with a 11.3 percent gain by the S&P 500 and a 5.2 percent advance by the Stoxx Europe 600 Index. Stocks in the Asian benchmark are valued at 12.8 times estimated earnings on average, compared with a multiple of 13.3 for the S&P 500 and 10.8 times for the Stoxx 600.

Of the 178 companies on the regional benchmark index that posted quarterly profits since April 10, 86 surpassed expectations, while 70 fell short, according to data compiled by Bloomberg News.

To contact the reporters on this story: Jonathan Burgos in Singapore at jburgos4@bloomberg.net; Adam Haigh in London at ahaigh1@bloomberg.net

To contact the editor responsible for this story: John McCluskey at j.mccluskey@bloomberg.net

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-04-27/most-asian-stocks-decline-after-s-p-cuts-spain-s-rating.html

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