Asian Stocks Advance on Earnings; Toyota, Mirae Asset Climb

Asian stocks rose after Denso Corp., Japan's largest auto-parts maker, boosted its profit forecast and Mirae Asset Securities Co. reported earnings more than tripled.

Toyota Motor Corp., which holds a stake in Denso and is its biggest customer, climbed to a two-week high. Mirae Asset, South Korea's second-largest brokerage by value, advanced to a record.

``This earnings season is pretty healthy,'' said Jon Easton, who manages about $100 million in Japanese equities at EN Asset Management in Tokyo. ``I think this is a tremendous buying opportunity right now.''

Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group Inc. climbed after the Nikkei newspaper said the lender will have its first stock repurchase. Hynix Semiconductor Inc. rose on plans to start producing digital camera components after a three-year ban on new types of products ended this month.

The Morgan Stanley Capital International Asia-Pacific Index added 0.3 percent to 171.63 as of 4:15 p.m. in Tokyo. It has gained to 5.1 percent this month. The Nikkei 225 Stock Average advanced 0.5 percent to 16,737.63.

Hong Kong stocks fell after an earnings report from Angang Steel Co. raised concern the Hang Seng Index's recent advance to a high may have been overdone. Benchmarks also fell in Taiwan, Malaysia, Singapore, the Philippines, New Zealand and Indonesia.

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