Aug. 20 (Bloomberg) -- Asian stocks gained, led by energy and finance companies, as oil prices rallied and QBE Insurance Group Ltd. reported higher first-half profit.
Woodside Petroleum Ltd., Australia’s No. 2 oil producer, climbed 4.3 percent in Sydney. QBE, Australia’s largest property and casualty insurer, advanced 7 percent. Isuzu Motors Ltd., Japan’s third-biggest maker of commercial vehicles, rallied 5.4 percent as brokerages recommended buying Japanese automakers. CSL Ltd., the world’s second-largest maker of blood plasma products, slumped 3.4 percent after Citigroup Inc. cut its recommendation on the stock.
“The consensus remains among investors that the global economy is on course for a recovery, but we have to see further improvement in the economy and company earnings for markets to go up higher,” said Kiyoshi Ishigane, a strategist at Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co., which oversees about $53 billion.
The MSCI Asia Pacific Index added 0.6 percent to 110.99 as of 11:14 a.m. in Tokyo. The gauge has rallied 57 percent from a more than five-year low on March 9 amid speculation the global economy is recovering.
Japan’s Nikkei 225 Stock Average advanced 0.7 percent to 10,279.19. Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 Index gained 0.4 percent, while South Korea’s Kospi Index added 0.7 percent.
Futures on the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index rose 0.1 percent. The U.S. gauge advanced 0.7 percent yesterday as energy stocks gained, while Merck & Co. led drugmakers higher after a judge upheld a patent.
Rising Valuations
The MSCI Asia Pacific Index rally since March has lifted the average valuation of shares in the gauge to 24 times estimated earnings, compared with 17 times for the S&P 500 and 14 times for the Dow Jones Stoxx 600 Index in Europe.
Woodside Petroleum advanced 5.6 percent to A$46.75 in Sydney. Inpex Corp., Japan’s largest oil explorer, gained 2.3 percent to 717,000 yen in Tokyo.
Crude oil for September delivery rallied 4.7 percent to $72.42 a barrel in New York. U.S. oil stockpiles dropped 8.4 million barrels last week, the most since the week ended May 23, 2008, a report from the Energy Department showed.
QBE Insurance surged 7 percent to A$22.20 in Sydney. The company said first-half profit climbed 19 percent on premium growth and foreign exchange gains.
Isuzu rallied 5.4 percent to 197 yen after Nikko Citigroup raised its recommendation to “hold” from “sell.” Hino Motors Ltd. advanced 2.7 percent to 382 yen after upgrades at Nikko Citigroup and Daiwa Securities.
CSL slumped 3.3 percent to A$32.02. The stock was cut to “hold” from “buy” at Citigroup.
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