Emerging-Market Stocks Climb, Set for Best Weekly Gain in 2010

March 5 (Bloomberg) -- Emerging-market stocks rose, helping the benchmark index to its best weekly gain this year, as increased evidence of an Asian economic recovery bolstered the outlook for a global pick up.

the MSCI Emerging Markets Index gained 0.8 percent to 968.51 at 4:06 p.m. in Singapore, poised for a 3.5 percent weekly advance, its best performance since the five days ended Dec. 4. Shares also rose in Asian trading after jobless claims fell in the U.S., the world’s largest

DLF ltd., India’s biggest developer, rose 3.1 percent to 313.7 rupees, a one-month high, on speculation a gain in the nation’s tax collections signals that economic growth is accelerating. FAW Car Co., the maker of passenger vehicles in China with Volkswagen AG, jumped after reporting higher profits. Acer inc. and Unimicron Technology Corp. led Taiwan’s Taiex index higher by 1.3 percent, the steepest gain among stock gauges in 22 emerging markets.

“The market is pricing in less and less potential risks,” Andrew Freris, a senior investment strategist at BNP Paribas Wealth Management, said in an interview with Bloomberg Television in Hong Kong. “All Asian economies are now growing at accelerating rates, and progressively, more and more Asian central banks are actually increasing interest rates.”

Malaysia’s central bank raised its benchmark interest rate for the first time in almost four years, saying record-low borrowing costs were no longer warranted as the economy emerges from recession and inflation accelerates.

Fund Flows

Emerging-market equity funds drew $240 million in the week ended March 3, the third straight week of inflows, EPFR Global said, citing easing concerns about a contagion from the Greece debt crisis and a recovery in exports.

China’s benchmark Shanghai Composite Index rose 0.3 percent after fluctuating earlier today as Premier Wen Jiabao warned of “latent risk” in the nation’s banks and pledged to crack down on property speculation in a speech to the National People’s Congress. the premier also affirmed an 8 percent economic growth target, saying that the government will continue its moderately loose monetary policy and proactive fiscal stance.

in Russia, the Micex Index gained 1.1 percent, led by OAO Gazprom, the world’s largest natural-gas monopoly. the stock advanced 1.7 percent to 174.93 rubles after NAK Naftogaz Ukrainy paid for February natural-gas imports from Russia in full, the Ukrainian state energy company said.

Good Returns

“Equity returns around the world are going to be good but they’re going to be particularly good in emerging markets,” Jeremy Siegel, finance professor at the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School of Business, told Bloomberg Television.

Jaiprakash Associates ltd., an Indian builder of damns, roads and bridges, advanced 0.7 percent to 144.95 rupees after the finance ministry yesterday said the country’s direct tax revenue in the April to February period rose 7.5 percent from a year earlier. Reports released earlier this week showed that the nation’s exports and manufacturing output climbed.

Asia’s third-biggest economy may expand 8.2 percent in the 12 months beginning April 1, from an estimated 7.2 percent this year, India’s finance ministry said last week.

Acer, the world’s second-biggest computer vendor, jumped 4.1 percent to NT$95 in Taipei after JPMorgan Chase & Co., Goldman Sachs Group inc. and Credit Suisse Group AG raised their share-price estimates, citing the outlook for earnings.

Unimicron Technology Corp. gained 4.9 percent to NT$38.75 after Chairman Tseng Tzu-Chang said in an Economic Daily News report that profit and revenue will rise at least 10 percent this year. Tsai-Sheng Shen, the company’s spokesman, couldn’t be reached in his office for a comment.

Automakers rose in China, led by FAW Car, after the company reported a 50 percent gain in its 2009 net income. FAW Car rose 5.2 percent to 23.22 yuan. Chongqing Changan Automobile Co., the Chinese partner of Ford Motor Co. and Mazda Motor Corp., rose 1.2 percent to 12.64 yuan.



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