Japan's Stock Futures Rise on U.S. Retail Sales; Australian Shares Advance




Japanese stock futures rose as better-than-forecast retail sales in the U.S. boosted confidence in the strength of global demand. Australian stocks rose.

American depositary receipts of Hitachi Ltd., an electronics maker that gets more than 40 percent of its revenue outside Japan, rose 0.7 percent from the closing share price in Tokyo. Those of Komatsu Ltd., the world’s second-largest maker of construction and mining equipment, climbed 0.3 percent. Newcrest Mining Ltd., Australia’s biggest gold producer, gained 0.3 percent in Sydney today after the price of precious metal increased.

“U.S. consumption is recovering, and the global economy is mildly improving,” said Hiroichi Nishi, an equities manager in Tokyo at Nikko Cordial Securities Inc.

Futures on Japan’s Nikkei 225 Stock Average expiring in March closed at 10,335 in Chicago yesterday, compared with 10,315 in Singapore. They were bid in the pre-market at 10,330 in Osaka, Japan, at 8:05 a.m. local time. Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 Index increased 0.3 percent today. New Zealand’s NZX 50 Index was little changed in Wellington.

Futures on the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index were little changed today. In New York, the index gained 0.1 percent as data showing retail sales that beat estimates helped equities withstand a surge in Treasury yields. Yields on 10-year Treasuries surged as much as 0.22 percentage point to 3.49 percent after the Federal Reserve said the U.S. recovery is continuing and maintained a $600 billion plan to buy debt.

U.S. Retail Sales

Purchases at U.S. retailers increased 0.8 percent, following a 1.7 percent gain in October, Commerce Department figures showed yesterday. The median forecast of economists surveyed by Bloomberg News called for a 0.6 percent rise.

The MSCI Asia Pacific Index increased 11 percent through yesterday in 2010, matching the gain by the S&P 500 and beating the 9.4 percent increase by the Stoxx Europe 600 Index. Stocks in the Asian benchmark are valued at 14.8 times estimated earnings on average, compared with 14.5 times for the S&P 500 and 12.4 times for the Stoxx 600.

Gold futures for February delivery rose 0.4 percent in New York yesterday. Crude oil for January delivery declined 0.4 percent to settle at $88.28 a barrel yesterday. The London Metal Exchange Index of prices for six industrial metals including copper and aluminum fell 0.2 percent yesterday.

The 25-day Toraku index, a measure of daily stock winners and losers on the Topix, was 150 yesterday, according to Bloomberg data. A level of more than 120 suggests to some investors the market is poised to fall.

The Bank of Japan yesterday said it will start buying exchange-traded funds and Japanese real-estate investment trusts as soon as today as part of an asset-purchase program aimed at bolstering trading.

The Bank of Japan’s Tankan report released at 8:50 a.m. showed an index of sentiment among large manufacturers slid to five from eight. Economist had expected the measure would drop to three.