By Sandy Hendry and Shani Raja Feb. 10 (Bloomberg) -- Stocks, emerging-market currencies and metals rallied after Germany signaled it may help support Greece’s finances and economic reports showed recovering demand in Asia. The MSCI Asia Pacific Index added 0.3 percent to 115.05 as of 5:01 p.m. in Tokyo, with two stocks rising for each one that dropped. Europe’s Dow Jones Stoxx 600 Index gained 0.8 percent. The South Korean won climbed 0.3 percent, copper rose for a third day and the cost of protecting Asia-Pacific bonds from default fell the most in five months. Germany is considering assistance for Greece after the country’s deficit threatened the stability of financial markets, two lawmakers from Chancellor Angela Merkel’s governing coalition said after European markets closed yesterday. Reports showed Japan’s machinery orders climbed in December and Indonesia’s economy expanded at the fastest pace in a year in the fourth quarter. China’s car sales doubled from a year earlier in January. “Whether Greece will fail to repay its debt is the crux of this issue, and I think it’s unlikely that an EU member will default,” said Masaru Hamasaki, chief strategist at Tokyo-based Toyota Asset Management Co., which oversees the equivalent of $14 billion. “With robust foreign demand, companies, especially manufacturers, will likely beat their own earnings forecasts.” Futures on the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index were little changed, after the index gained 1.3 percent yesterday. Walt Disney Co., the world’s biggest media company, posted fiscal first-quarter profit that beat analysts’ estimates after the market closed as television revenue rose. China Car Sales “Early direction for the major European markets is likely to be upward although there are nagging doubts as to whether this will be the end of sovereign debt crises,” Ben Potter, a research analyst at IG Markets in Melbourne, wrote in a note. China’s Shanghai Composite Index rose for a second day, adding 1.1 percent. SAIC Motor Corp., the largest carmaker, climbed 3.4 percent. Sales of cars, multipurpose vehicles and sport-utility vehicles increased to 1.32 million units, the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers said yesterday. Markets held gains after a Chinese government report showed exports jumped 21 percent in January from a year earlier, less than the median 28 percent estimate in a Bloomberg News survey. Imports climbed a record 85.5 percent Japanese Machinery The Nikkei 225 Stock Average advanced 0.3 percent in Tokyo. Nissan Motor Co., Japan’s No. 3 carmaker, jumped 1.6 percent to 743 yen after scrapping its loss projection yesterday to forecast net income for the year to March 31. The company benefited from government subsidies in China and Japan. Japan’s industrial manufacturers gained after the Cabinet Office reported a 20.1 percent month-on-month surge in machinery orders in December, more than twice as much as economists had estimated. Fanuc Ltd., Japan’s largest maker of industrial robots, climbed 0.7 percent to 8,850 yen, while Komatsu Ltd., the world’s second-biggest maker of earthmoving equipment, rallied 3.2 percent to 1,784 yen. Malayan Banking Bhd., Malaysia’s biggest bank, rose 1.2 percent, the most in two months, after second-quarter profit rose 35 percent on faster loan growth. Acer Inc., the world’s second-largest computer vendor, added 1.6 percent after reporting its biggest quarterly profit in almost three years. “Earnings across the region reinforce the view that the recovery is gaining momentum,” said Stephen Halmarick, Sydney- based head of investment-markets research at Colonial First State Global Asset Management, which holds about $135 billion. Won, Peso The won climbed to 1,160.3 per dollar after South Korea’s Vice Finance Minister Hur Kyung Wook said yesterday the impact from Greece’s fiscal woes on his nation will be “limited.” The Indonesian rupiah strengthened 0.1 percent to 9,360 as a government report showed the economy expanded 5.4 percent in the fourth quarter from a year earlier. The dollar advanced 0.3 percent to $1.3760 per euro on speculation a Commerce Department report today will show the U.S. trade deficit narrowed. The trade gap will shrink to $35.8 billion in December from $36.4 billion the prior month, according to a Bloomberg News survey of economists. The greenback pared losses against the yen before the release of testimony today by Federal Reserve Chairman Ben S. Bernanke on the central bank’s strategy for exiting from policies designed to stimulate growth. The dollar advanced to 89.72 yen in Tokyo from 89.69 yen in New York yesterday. It earlier touched 90.02 yen, the highest level since Feb. 4. “Demand for the dollar will increase if Bernanke’s remarks indicate the U.S. is heading for exit,” said Toshiya Yamauchi, manager of currency margin trading at Ueda Harlow Ltd. in Tokyo. Yuan, Commodities Yuan forwards declined, snapping a two-day advance, after an editorial in a state-owned newspaper signaled Chinese authorities may limit appreciation to help sustain the recovery in exports. The currency may not have “big” gains in the first half because economic conditions haven’t improved, the China Securities Journal column said. Twelve-month non-deliverable yuan forwards dropped 0.2 percent to 6.6755 per dollar. Copper for three-month delivery on the London Metal Exchange rose 1.1 percent to $6,660 a ton. Aluminum was up 0.1 percent at $2,059 a ton and zinc gained 0.4 percent to $2,112 a ton. Oil dropped 0.4 percent to $73.48 a barrel after the American Petroleum Institute said crude inventories rose 7.2 million barrels and gasoline supplies by 1.55 million barrels last week, more than expected. To contact the reporter on this story: Shani Raja in Sydney at sraja4@bloomberg.net;

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