Suzlon lifted by US green agenda

By Andrew Wood in Hong Kong
Published: November 8 2008 02:00

One of Asia's best-performing stocks this week as a result of Barack Obama's victory in the US presidential election was Suzlon , an Indian maker of wind-powered electricity generators.
Suzlon shares climbed 59 per cent to Rs70.6 - the biggest percentage gain among the 1,120 members of the FTSE Asia-Pacific index - on hopes that Mr Obama's enthusiasm for green power would translate into bigger profits for the sector.
It was a volatile week packed with interest rate cuts; central banks in India, Australia and South Korea joined in the global trend for loosening monetary policy.
The region broadly welcomed Mr Obama's victory, although pessimism about the outlook for the world economy resurfaced.
The FTSE Asia-Pacific index managed a 2 per cent rise over the week - a small but welcome bounce after the benchmark's 20.2 per cent decline in October.
That headline gain masked a range of performances by individual markets: the Nikkei 225 Average in Japan lost 4.9 per cent during the week but Thai stocks gained 11.4 per cent.
Hong Kong rose 2 per cent and Australian stocks edged up 0.8 per cent.
Gains in alternative energy stocks seemed to be one of the few clear themes.
South Korea's Yonghyun , a maker of parts for wind turbines, surged 49.2 per cent to Won14,450. Solargiga , which produces solar panels in mainland China, rose 23 per cent to HK$2.19. In spite of that rise, the company was still worth a quarter less than when it floated in Hong Kong in March.
GS Yuasa , a maker of rechargeable batteries, was the Nikkei 225's best performer. Its shares gained 41.5 per cent to Y351 in the week. Sanyo Electric , which also makes power storage devices, was next, rising 39 per cent to Y203, although its rally was more to do with talk that Panasonic would launch a takeover bid.
But as green-related stocks rose, carmakers suffered. Toyota Motor , the world's second-biggest carmaker, dropped by 13 per centyesterday after it cut its forecast for annual profit by two-thirds. Toyota ended the week with an 11.3 per cent loss at Y3,460.
Nissan Motor , which has scrapped its dividend, was the Nikkei's third-worst performer over the week. It fell 21.6 per cent to Y422. Honda , which said sales in the US would fall sharply, lost 18.1 per cent to Y2,260.
Hyundai Motor lost as much as 21 per cent during the week but a sharp rally for South Korean stocks yesterday after the Bank of Korea cut interest rates for the third time in a month meant Hyundai ended the week with a loss of 7.3 per cent at Won54,500.
One sign of calmer markets - in Hong Kong at least - was that volatility implied by three-month options on the Hang Seng index stayed below the level of volatility recorded for all of this week - the first time this has happened since June.
Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2008