Feb. 5 (Bloomberg) -- Japan's Nikkei 225 Stock Average rose, ending a three-day decline. Toyota Motor Corp. advanced on optimism the world's largest automaker by market value would report a jump in earnings.

The Nikkei 225 added 0.2 percent to 10,464.60 at the 3 p.m. close in Tokyo, after shedding 3.1 percent earlier this week. The Topix rose 0.3 percent, led by Toyota, which reported after the market closed that third-quarter profit climbed more than forecast by analysts.

``Now is the time to be buying after the recent drop that made many companies cheap,'' said Youichi Yanai, who oversees $28 billion at the Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi Ltd. in Tokyo.

Elsewhere in Asia, Australia's BHP Billiton, the world's third-biggest copper miner, gained after Deutsche Bank AG advised investors buy more of the company's shares.

The Morgan Stanley Capital International Asia-Pacific Index added 0.3 percent to 87.94. Benchmarks in the region gained, apart from those in Hong Kong, the Philippines and Singapore. Indexes in Australia and New Zealand were little changed.

Toyota climbed 2.7 percent to 3,490 yen. The company said that third-quarter profit rose 60 percent to 286.5 billion yen ($2.72 billion), as it sold more Tundra pickup trucks and Sienna minivans in the U.S.

The result was more than the 237 billion yen median estimate of four analysts in a Bloomberg survey.

Yen Concern

Ricoh Co., Japan's second-largest office equipment maker, tumbled 3.4 percent to 1,952 yen. The company yesterday lowered its full-year sales forecast by 1.3 percent to 1.77 trillion yen. Ricoh forecasts that the dollar will buy on average 108 yen for the quarter ending March 31, 2.3 percent more than its present level of 105.49 yen to the dollar.

The company joined exporters such as Olympus Corp. and Teijin Ltd. that cut earnings forecasts this week because of the yen's gain. The local currency has surged 13 percent versus the dollar in the past year.

``The biggest concern in the market has been the strengthening yen and its impact on earnings,'' said Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi's Yanai. ``Those coming out with disappointing results on currency moves are becoming the target of selling.''

Australia's BHP Billiton added 2.9 percent to A$11.50. Joe Kaderavek, an analyst at Deutsche Bank, raised the stock to ``buy'' from ``hold,'' citing the outlook for its earnings and production capacity.

BHP said after the market closed that it plans to spend $94.5 million expanding its iron ore production by 10 percent to 110 million tons a year. BHP said last week that its aluminum output rose to a record 308,000 tons.

South Korea's LG Electronics Inc. rose 1.5 percent to 61,400 won. The nation's No. 2 electronics maker may narrow its fourth- quarter net loss by 80 percent, according a forecast of analysts surveyed by Bloomberg. LG Electronics reports earnings tomorrow.

To contact the reporter on this story: Tomoko Yamazaki in Tokyo at tyamazaki@bloomberg.net; Michael Tsang in the Tokyo newsroom (81) at mtsang1@bloomberg.net.

Last Updated: February 5, 2004 02:08 EST