James Hardie Industries Plc (JHX) surged 6.8 percent after the Australian maker of building products said profit jumped last quarter. Mixi Inc. gained 5.9 percent in Tokyo after the game developer said Tencent Holdings Ltd. will sell the Japanese company’s “Monster Strike” game in China. Foster Electric Co. tumbled 13 percent, the largest decline on Japan’s Topix index, as the maker of audio equipment cut its forecast.
The MSCI Asia Pacific Index gained less than 0.1 percent to 138.04 as of 9:31 a.m. in Hong Kong, bringing this week’s rise to 0.5 percent. The measure has climbed 2.4 percent this month, with more than $2 trillion added to the value of global stocks.
“We’re still seeing steady interest in the market but there’s definitely a lot of caution out there,” Angus Gluskie, a Sydney-based money manager who helps oversee about $550 million at White Funds Management, said by phone. “A year ago markets were cheap and there was a big valuation opportunity. A lot of that valuation opportunity has now been taken so the outlook now comes down less to the easy gains and more to the actual delivery of earnings.”
The MSCI Asia Pacific Index rose 6 percent from this year’s low on Feb. 4 through yesterday, leaving the gauge trading at 13 times the estimated earnings of its constituent companies, compared with 15.7 for the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index and 14.5 for the Stoxx Europe 600 Index, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.
Earnings Season
Of the 417 companies on the Asia-Pacific measure that have reported quarterly earnings since the start of the year and for which Bloomberg compiles estimates, 53 percent topped profit forecasts.
The Topix (TPX) slipped 0.3 percent today. Reports showed Japan’s industrial production in January beat estimates while inflation matched the highest level since 2008.
Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 Index (AS51) was little changed, with the gauge heading for its biggest monthly advance since July. New Zealand’s NZX 50 Index was also little changed and South Korea’s Kospi index added 0.1 percent.
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index (HSI) gained 0.4 percent while the Hang Seng China Enterprises Index of mainland Chinese stocks listed in the city rose 0.6 percent. The Shanghai Composite Index slid 0.2 percent. Singapore’s Straits Times Index advanced 0.1 percent. Taiwan’s stock exchange was closed for a holiday.
Fed Chair Janet Yellen yesterday reiterated that the Fed will probably continue to reduce bond buying, while saying asset purchases were not on a preset course and a “significant” change in the economic outlook could cause policy makers to alter their strategy. She acknowledged that severe winter weather may be to blame for weaker economic data.
China Manufacturing
A gauge of Chinese manufacturing due tomorrow may fall to a 17-month low, according to economists surveyed by Bloomberg. A private index due next week is projected to show factory output shrank a second month.
Futures on the S&P 500 were little changed. The U.S. equities benchmark yesterday rose to a record following Yellen’s testimony and is on course for the best monthly gain since October, climbing 4 percent.
To contact the reporter on this story: Adam Haigh in Sydney at ahaigh1@bloomberg.net
To contact the editor responsible for this story: Sarah McDonald at smcdonald23@bloomberg.net
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-02-28/asian-stock-gauge-set-for-monthly-gain-before-china-data.html
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