Asian Stocks Rebound, Led by Toyota as Yen Drops

Asian stocks rose, recovering from the biggest drop in more than a week. Toyota Motor Corp. led gains after the yen weakened against the dollar, boosting the value of overseas sales at Japanese exporters.

``The currency has reversed its direction and that should feed into a rebound by stocks,'' said Mitsushige Akino, who oversees $468 million in assets at Ichiyoshi Investment Management Co. in Tokyo.

BHP Billiton advanced as nickel prices rose to a record for a third day and crude-oil prices snapped a four-day decline. Hynix Semiconductor Inc. and Elpida Memory Inc. led shares of computer-chip makers higher after Citigroup Inc. yesterday raised its rating on the companies and three competitors.

The Morgan Stanley Capital International Asia-Pacific Index, a U.S.-dollar denominated measure of more than 1,000 stocks, added 0.8 percent to 141.46 at 10.17 a.m. in Tokyo. The gauge yesterday dropped 2.5 percent, the biggest loss since a sell-off that wiped more than $3.3 trillion from the value of global stocks ended on March 5.

In Japan, the Nikkei 225 Stock Average rose 1 percent to 16,834.92, while the broader Topix added 0.9 percent. Australia's S&P/ASX 200 index climbed 1.4 percent. Markets open for trading elsewhere in the region all advanced.

U.S. stocks rose for the second time this week, led by banks and homebuilders, after Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. said bad home loans won't curtail earnings. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index added 0.7 percent. Its futures were little changed.

Yen Weakens

``People have realized the U.S. is not heading for recession so there's lots of liquidity and buyers out there,'' said Simon Doyle, who helps manage $4.5 billion as a strategist at Schroder Investment Management Australia Ltd. in Sydney.

Toyota, the world's largest automaker by value, added 2 percent to 7,690 yen. Sony Corp., the maker of the PlayStation 3 game console, rose 1.5 percent to 5,950 yen.

The yen weakened 0.7 percent against the dollar to 117.09 yen in New York. Against the euro, the yen fell 0.9 percent to 154.83. The Japanese currency recently changed hands at 117.24 versus the dollar and 154.99 against the euro.

A weaker yen increases the value of Japanese exporters' overseas sales when converted into local currency, while their products become more competitive abroad.

BHP, the world's largest mining company, rose 1.7 percent to A$27.33. Sumitomo Metal Mining Co., Japan's largest non-ferrous metal producer, climbed 4.5 percent to 2,335 yen.