Asian Stocks Gain on Speculation Regulators to Provide Support:

Asian stocks rose for a second day on speculation regulators will act to support financial companies and ease tightness in credit markets. Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group Inc. paced banks higher after U.S. regulators met to consider bailing out bond insurers. Kookmin Bank led gains in South Korea, where the government asked pension funds to accelerate stock buying. ASX Ltd., operator of Australia's stock exchange, surged. Asian stocks have recouped more than half of the two-day, 10 percent loss earlier this week. ``The stabilization of financial markets has eased fear of a global recession,'' said Bevan Yeh, who helps manage the equivalent of $1.2 billion at Prudential Financial Securities Investment Trust Enterprise in Taipei. ``Government strong-arm measures also provided a lift in investor confidence.'' The MSCI Asia Pacific Index climbed 2.6 percent to 140.93 at 1:53 p.m. in Tokyo, adding to yesterday's 4 percent advance. In Japan, the Nikkei 225 Stock Average advanced 1.4 percent to 13,013.92. Singapore's Straits Times Index rose 2.5 percent after China said it will allow its commercial banks to invest in the city-state's stocks and funds. Benchmarks in Hong Kong and China jumped following a report that showed the nation's economy expanded 11.2 percent in the fourth quarter. In the U.S., the Standard & Poor's 500 Index added 2.1 percent, its first increase in six days. Ambac Financial Group Inc. and MBIA Inc., the two largest U.S. bond insurers, posted the biggest gains in the S&P 500 on speculation new capital will help preserve the bond insurers' credit ratings. Mitsubishi UFJ, Millea Mitsubishi UFJ, Japan's biggest publicly traded bank, gained 5.4 percent to 945 yen, set for its biggest gain since Dec. 6. Millea Holdings Inc., Japan's largest insurer by market value, added 5.3 percent to 3,580 yen. Mizuho Financial Group Inc., the third-largest bank, added 3.7 percent to 453,000 yen. A measure of banks, insurers and developers jumped 3.3 percent today, the biggest percentage gain among the MSCI Asian index's 10 industry groups. The finance index had tumbled 16 percent in the previous six months as increasing mortgage defaults crimped credit and weighed on earnings. Kookmin, the largest in South Korea, gained 1.1 percent to 63,000 won, advancing for the first time in four days. The plunge in Asian stocks prompted discussions between South Korean government officials and representatives of state- run pension funds on possible measures to support stock declines, according to a statement by the Ministry of Finance and Economy. ASX surged 15 percent to A$49.10 in Australia, on course for its largest advance since November 1998. The country's S&P/ASX 200 Index has climbed 7.2 percent since trading began yesterday, nearly erasing the two-day, 9.8 percent slump at the start of the week. Centro Gains Meanwhile, Centro Properties Group, the Australian owner of U.S. shopping malls that's lost as much as 94 percent of its market worth, surged 22 percent to A$0.435 after Chief Executive Officer Glen Rufrano ruled out a fire-sale of assets. The stock also gained as John Snowden, portfolio manager at Colonial First State, Centro's biggest shareholder, said his funds retained their 8.3 percent stake because the mall operator's Australian assets will provide ``significant value'' if the company can better manage its debt. Cosco Corp. Singapore Ltd., a unit of China's biggest shipping company, jumped 11 percent to S$4.65, the most since Oct. 18. Singapore Exchange Ltd., which operates the city-state's stock and derivatives markets, surged 8.7 percent to S$9.99, the most since Sept. 24. `Great Wall of Money' China reached an agreement with Singapore to let Chinese banks invest in the island's stocks and funds under the so-called qualified domestic institutional investor, or QDII, program, the China Banking Regulatory Commission said in a statement on its Web site yesterday. The nation will ``soon'' sign similar agreements with the U.S., German and Japanese governments, according to the statement, which did not specify a timeline. ``The `Chinese Great Wall of Money' will flow to many parts of the world,'' said Ian Beattie, London-based head of Asian equities at New Star Asset Management, which oversees $1.5 billion. ``Hong Kong, Singapore and global emerging markets will get a disproportionately large share.'' The development reinforces his positive view of Singapore equities, Beattie added. China Netcom Group Corp. (Hong Kong) Ltd., the smaller of China's two fixed-line telephone operators, advanced 8.7 percent, to HK$23.65. China's gross domestic product rose 11.2 percent in the three months ended Dec. 31, the statistics bureau said. Economists in a Bloomberg News survey predicted an 11.3 percent increase. [From Internet]