Japanese Stock Futures Rise on Profit Outlook; Westpac Rises, as BHP Drops

Bloomberg Jan 24--Japanese stock futures rose as higher-than-estimated earnings at General Electric Co., a U.S. company considered a proxy for world growth, boosted confidence in a global recovery. Australian shares were little changed.

American depositary receipts of Toyota Motor Corp., the world’s biggest carmaker, climbed 0.5 percent from the closing share price in Tokyo. Those of Honda Motor Co., which receives 43 percent of its sales from North America, advanced 1.5 percent. Westpac Banking Corp., Australia’s No. 2 bank by market value, climbed 0.8 percent in Sydney today, while BHP Billiton Ltd., the world’s largest mining company, fell 0.7 percent.

“Earnings in the U.S. are improving,” said Kazuhiro Takahashi, a general manager at Tokyo-based Daiwa Securities Capital Markets Co. In Japan, “there are expectations that domestic companies will also post good results.”

Futures on Japan’s Nikkei 225 Stock Average expiring in March closed at 10,305 in Chicago on Jan. 21, compared with 10,295 in Singapore. They were bid in the pre-market at 10,300 in Osaka, Japan, at 8:05 a.m. local time today. Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 Index was little changed and New Zealand’s NZX 50 Index climbed 0.2 percent.

Futures on the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index were little changed today. The index increased 0.2 percent in New York on Jan. 21 after General Electric, the world’s biggest maker of jet engines, medical-imaging equipment and power turbines, reported fourth-quarter earnings from continuing operations of 36 cents a share, exceeding the average estimate from analysts of 32 cents.

Relative Performance

The MSCI Asia Pacific Index dropped 0.9 percent this year to Jan. 21, compared with gains of 2 percent for both the S&P 500 and the Stoxx Europe 600 Index. Stocks in the Asian benchmark were valued at 14 times estimated earnings on average at the last close, compared with 13.4 times for the S&P 500 and 11.2 times for the Stoxx 600.

Yaskawa Electric Corp., a maker of electronic controls, may be active today in Tokyo after the company reported fiscal nine- month net income of 4.32 billion yen, compared with a year- earlier net loss.

Fuji Heavy Industries Ltd., the Japanese maker of Subaru- brand cars, may also be active. Operating profit for the fiscal year to March 31 will likely total about 80 billion yen, the Nikkei newspaper reported. That compares with Fuji Heavy’s earlier forecast of 70 billion yen, the Nikkei said.

Australian banks and mortgage insurers could absorb the losses should home prices plunge, and related securities would maintain their ratings, Fitch Ratings said.