By Jonathan Burgos and Norie Kuboyama
March 8 (Bloomberg) -- Asian stocks fluctuated as acquisitions boosted Hitachi Ltd. and Terumo Corp., while chip- related companies fell after Wells Fargo reduced its rating on the semiconductor industry.
Hitachi Ltd. advanced 2.6 percent in Tokyo after agreeing to sell its unit that makes hard-disk drives to Western Digital Corp. Terumo Corp. climbed 2.8 percent in Tokyo after offering to buy a unit from Gambro AB to become the world?s biggest producer of blood-transfusion equipment. Hynix Semiconductor Inc., the world?s No. 2 maker of computer-memory chips, retreated 2.1 percent in Seoul.
The MSCI Asia Pacific Index was little changed at 138.03 as of 11:11 a.m. in Tokyo, with almost five stocks rising for every four that declined. The gauge climbed 1.9 percent last week as better-than-estimated economic data from South Korea to the U.S. bolstered confidence in a global recovery, overcoming concern that Middle East unrest will boost oil prices and slow growth.
?There?s a tug of war going on between an improving U.S. economy on the positive side, and unrest in the Middle East sending oil higher on the negative side,? said Koichi Kurose, chief strategist in Tokyo at Resona Bank Ltd., which oversees about $57 billion in assets. ?Each side is getting stronger.?
Japan?s Nikkei 225 Stock Average climbed 0.4 percent. Australia?s S&P/ASX 200 Index was little changed and South Korea?s Kospi Index rose 0.6 percent. Hong Kong?s Seng Index increased 0.3 percent, and China?s Shanghai Composite Index dropped 0.1 percent.
Chip Shares Fall
Futures on the Standard & Poor?s 500 Index increased 0.2 percent today. The index slid 0.8 percent yesterday in New York as escalating violence in Libya sent oil prices higher and chip companies tumbled after the Wells Fargo rating.
Oil climbed to a 29-month high in New York yesterday as fighting between Libyan rebels and troops loyal to Muammar Qaddafi intensified, reigniting concern that supply disruptions will spread through the Middle East. Crude oil for April delivery increased $1.02 to $105.44 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, the highest settlement since Sept. 26, 2008.
Semiconductor-related shares sank the most among 24 groups in the S&P 500 yesterday after Wells Fargo cut its industry rating to ?market weight? from ?overweight,? citing the 125 percent gain in the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index over the past two years. The downgrade ?is more an indication of a more moderate though still optimistic view of the sector rather than any active concern about the chip stocks as a group,? Wells Fargo said in a report dated March 7.
The MSCI Asia Pacific Index rose 0.3 percent this year through yesterday, compared with gains of 4.2 percent by the S&P 500 and 1.8 percent by the Stoxx Europe 600 Index. Shares in the Asian benchmark were valued at 13.9 times estimated earnings on average as of the last close, compared with 13.6 times for the S&P 500 and 11.2 times for the Stoxx 600.
--Editors: Nicolas Johnson, John McCluskey.
To contact the reporters on this story: Jonathan Burgos in Singapore at jburgos4@bloomberg.net.; Norie Kuboyama in Tokyo at nkuboyama@bloomberg.net.
To contact the editor responsible for this story: Nick Gentle at ngentle2@bloomberg.net.
Powered By iWebRSS.com
investing in silver bullion investing stocks markets investing
