Asian Stocks Advance

April 3 - Asian stocks climbed, led by Samsung Electronics Co. and Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group Inc., after more than $44 billion worth of takeovers in the U.S. eased concern slowing economic growth will erode demand for global equities.
BHP Billiton Ltd. led resources stocks higher after copper climbed to a four-month high and nickel gained. U.S. stocks rose even after a government report said manufacturing growth in the world's largest economy slowed more than forecast in March.
``U.S. markets turned out more stable than people feared,'' said Yoshihisa Okamoto, who helps oversee $1.9 billion in assets at Fuji Investment Management Co. in Tokyo.
The Morgan Stanley Capital International Asia-Pacific Index advanced 0.7 percent to 144.31 as of 12:54 p.m. in Tokyo. The Nikkei 225 Stock Average added 0.7 percent to 17,152.56. Hyundai Engineering & Construction Co. led South Korean building stocks lower on concern a bill to cool the housing market could squeeze profits. Markets elsewhere in the region gained.
Samsung, the world's second-biggest chipmaker, advanced 0.9 percent to 571,000 won. Mitsubishi UFJ, Japan's biggest lender by assets, climbed 1.5 percent to 1.34 million yen. Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., the world's biggest consumer electronics maker, jumped 2.8 percent to 2,420 yen.
Yesterday in the U.S., Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co. said it will pay $25.6 billion for First Data Corp., the biggest processor of credit card payments, in the second-biggest leveraged buyout ever. Tribune Co., owner of the Chicago Tribune, agreed to be sold for $8.2 billion to billionaire Sam Zell and employees of the company. Some $641 billion of mergers and acquisitions have been announced in the U.S. so far this year.
BHP, Rio
The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 0.2 percent and the Standard & Poor's 500 Index gained 0.3 percent even after the Institute for Supply Management said its factory index fell to 50.9, from 52.3 in February. The median estimate of economists surveyed by Bloomberg News was for a drop to 51.4. A sub-index of prices rose the most in seven months, while measures of employment and new orders dropped.
BHP, the world's biggest mining company, added 2.1 percent to A$29.97. Rio Tinto Group, the second-biggest by market value, gained 1.8 percent to A$78.57. Mitsubishi Corp., Japan's largest trading company which gets about half of its revenue from selling fuel and metals, climbed 1.9 percent to 2,705 yen.
Copper rose 1.1 percent in New York, the highest close since Dec. 5. In London, copper climbed 1.6 percent, while nickel added 1.8 percent.
``Demand for commodities is strong, particularly in China, so I see the resources story continuing for some time yet,'' said Shane Oliver, who helps manage about $83 billion at AMP Capital Investors Ltd. in Sydney.
Hyundai Engineering
Hyundai Engineering, the second-largest South Korean developer by market value, lost 2.3 percent to 48,750 won. GS Engineering & Construction Corp., the second-biggest by sales, tumbled 4.4 percent to 80,800 won.
A housing-policy bill passed yesterday by the National Assembly includes measures such as home-price caps and an obligation for private builders to disclose their costs that may have a negative impact on builders' margins, Kyobo Securities Co. said today in a note.
China Vanke Co. led gains by China's largest companies on expectations corporate pensions will invest more money in the stock market. China Vanke, the nation's biggest property developer, jumped 3.4 percent to 17.64 yuan. Baoshan Iron & Steel, its No. 1 maker of the alloy, rose 1.5 percent to 10.46 yuan.
The government may allow an additional 15 billion yuan ($1.9 billion) of domestic corporate pension funds to be invested in the country's stock market this year, the Shanghai Securities News reported today, without citing anyone.
Japanese consumer lenders dropped after Sanyo Shinpan Finance Co. reported a bigger-than-forecast loss. Aiful Corp., the nation's biggest consumer finance company by assets, dropped 4.4 percent to 3,450 yen. Credit Saison Co., a credit card issuer, slumped 4.4 percent to 3,700 yen.
Sanyo Shinpan said yesterday after the market closed that its annual loss will be about 80.1 billion yen ($67.9 million), more than double the company's initial loss projection of 38.5 billion yen.