Asian stocks rose for a third day as Greece’s government edged closer to securing a bailout package and Toyota Motor Corp. raised its profit forecast. Chinese shares rallied ahead reports tomorrow that are expected to show inflation easing.
Nikkei 225 9,015.59 +98.07 +1.10%
Hang Seng 21,018.46 +319.27 +1.54%
S&P/ASX 200 4,290.71 +16.51 +0.39%
Shanghai Composite 2,347.53 +55.63 +2.43%
Toyota rallied 5 percent in Tokyo after Asia’s largest carmaker raised its earnings outlook by 11 percent as new models boosted sales. China Petroleum & Chemical Corp. and PetroChina Co. climbed in Hong Kong after China raised fuel prices for the first time in 10 months. Rio Tinto Group gained 1.1 percent in Sydney.
Larger rival, BHP Billiton Ltd. (BHP) slid 0.4 percent to A$37.75 in Sydney. The company reported a 5.5 percent drop in first-half profit to $9.9 billion as rising costs combined with lower output and prices halved base-metal earnings. That compares with an average analyst estimate of $10 billion.
Panasonic Corp. gained 3.3 percent to 657 yen, Fujitsu Ltd. (6702) increased 2.9 percent to 391 yen and Renesas Electronics Corp. surged 10 percent to 556 yen after the Nikkei reported all three companies are in talks to join their system chip operations. The newspaper did not cite anyone.