Japanese Stock Futures Rise on Yen






Japanese stock futures rose as a weaker yen boosted the earnings outlook for companies dependent on overseas demand. Australian stocks fell after oil prices declined.

New York-traded securities of Canon Inc., a camera maker that gets 28 percent of its sales from the Americas, climbed 0.8 percent from the Tokyo close after the yen dropped to its lowest level since January against the dollar. Those of Advantest Corp., the world’s largest maker of memory-chip testers, gained 2 percent after U.S.-based Qualcomm Inc. raised forecasts. BHP Billiton Ltd., Australia’s largest oil company, sank 1 percent.

“If the yen stays at this level, pretax earnings at Japanese companies will more likely increase by 50 percent next fiscal year,” said Kazuhiro Takahashi, a general manager at Daiwa Securities Capital Markets Co. in Tokyo. “That’ll be positive for the stock market.”

Japan’s fiscal year starts April 1.

Yen-denominated futures on Japan’s Nikkei 225 Stock Average expiring in June closed at 10,825 in Chicago yesterday, 0.5 percent higher than 10,775 in Singapore. They were bid in the pre-market at 10,830 as of 8:07 a.m. in Osaka, Japan.

Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 Index fell 0.2 percent to 4,874.60 as of 10:07 a.m. in Sydney. New Zealand’s NZX 50 Index dipped 0.1 percent in Wellington.

The MSCI Asia Pacific Index has lost 1.3 percent this week, set for its first weekly slump in five, after an interest-rate increase by India’s central bank spurred concern governments and central banks globally will unwind stimulus measures that helped pull the world’s economy out of recession. Stocks in the gauge trade at 18.8 times estimated earnings, compared with 15.1 times for the MSCI World Index of 23 developed nations.

U.S. Stocks Fall

Futures on the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index retreated 0.2 percent. Yesterday, the index fell 0.2 percent, as discord deepened among European leaders about how to rescue debt- stricken Greece.

The yen depreciated to 92.96 against the dollar around 2:40 a.m. in Tokyo, its weakest level since Jan. 8. It dropped to as low as 123.90 per euro from 122.44 at the 3 p.m. close of stock trading. A weaker yen boosts the value of overseas sales at Japanese companies when converted into their home currency.

Crude oil for May delivery fell 0.1 percent to $80.53 a barrel yesterday in New York.

‘Very, Very Bad’

European Central Bank President Jean-Claude Trichet said on a French television station yesterday that Europe needs to take responsibility for its members and that possible International Monetary Fund aid for Greece is “very, very bad.”

French President Nicolas Sarkozy bowed to German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s demand for an IMF role in a potential rescue package for Greece.

Qualcomm, the world’s biggest maker of mobile-phone chips, jumped 5 percent in New York after boosting its second-quarter profit and sales forecasts.

PetroChina Co., the world’s biggest company by market value, posted a smaller full-year profit than analysts estimated after oil prices fell from a record. Net income declined 9.7 percent, the company said yesterday after the close of the Hong Kong stock market.