Golden Fibonacci

Dec. 15 (Bloomberg) — Asian mining stocks rose after copper and platinum prices climbed. Shipping companies paced declines among Japanese equities after cargo rates fell.

Platinum Australia Ltd., which owns mines in South Africa and Australia, surged 4.6 percent in Sydney. BHP Billiton Ltd., the world’s biggest mining company, climbed 1 percent as JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded the stock on higher commodity- price forecasts. Mitsui O.S.K. Lines Ltd., Japan’s No. 2 shipping line, fell 1.3 percent after the Baltic Dry Index slumped for a sixth day.

The MSCI Asia Pacific Index was little changed at 120.45 as of 10:22 a.m. in Tokyo. The gauge has climbed 35 percent this year, set for its biggest annual gain since 2003, on signs government spending packages and lower interest rates are reviving the global economy.

“There’s just a general feeling that we are winding down for New Year and the bulk of the buying has been done this year,” said Chris Weston, an institutional dealer at IG Markets in Melbourne. “We’re just lacking the catalyst to really attract buyers at present. Traders are more happy to trade individual news stories.”

Japan’s Nikkei 225 Stock Average lost 0.4 percent. Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 Index rose 0.8 percent, while New Zealand’s NZX 50 Index added 0.3 percent.

Futures on the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index were little changed. The gauge rose 0.7 percent to the highest since October 2008, as Abu Dhabi agreed to provide financing to Dubai’s financial support fund, allowing Dubai World to repay $4.1 billion of Islamic bonds that were due yesterday.

The MSCI Asia Pacific Index has climbed 71 percent from a more than five-year low on March 9, outpacing gains of 65 percent by the S&P 500 and 56 percent for Europe’s Dow Jones Stoxx 600 Index. Stocks in the benchmark are valued at 22 times estimated earnings, compared with 18 times for the S&P and 16 times for the Stoxx.

To contact the reporter for this story: Shani Raja in Sydney at sraja4@bloomberg.net.