"June 7 (Bloomberg) -- Asian stocks advanced the most in more than two months as oil and copper climbed on speculation policy makers around the world will take steps to revive the slowing economy. The Australian dollar rose to a three-week high after employers unexpectedly added jobs in May.
The MSCI Asia Pacific Index increased 1.5 percent by 1:06 p.m. in Tokyo, rising for a third day and heading for its biggest gain since March 27. The Nikkei 225 Stock Average added 1 percent, while Standard & Poor’s 500 Index futures rose 0.3 percent. Oil gained 0.6 percent in New York and copper rallied 0.6 percent. The Aussie strengthened 0.2 percent against the U.S. currency, while the cost of insuring Australian corporate bonds from default declined the most since Feb. 1.
European Central Bank President Mario Draghi said officials stand ready to act as the euro region’s growth outlook worsens. Federal Reserve Vice Chairman Janet Yellen said the U.S. economy “remains vulnerable to setbacks” and may warrant additional monetary stimulus. Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh pledged to revive growth in Asia’s third-largest economy through infrastructure spending. The number of people employed in Australia rose by 38,900 last month, the statistics bureau said.
“Any time central bankers give us a promise that they’re going to inject some more liquidity into the markets, risk assets start to rally, and that’s precisely what’s happened,” Arjuna Mahendran, the Singapore-based head of Asia investment strategy at HSBC Private Bank, which manages about $556 billion in client assets, said in a Bloomberg TV interview. “We could have a risk rally going on for a while.”
Bernanke Speech
The MSCI All-Country World Index climbed 2.1 percent yesterday, the biggest gain since Dec. 20, and the S&P 500 jumped 2.3 percent. Two regional Fed bank presidents who vote on policy this year, San Francisco’s John Williams and Atlanta’s Dennis Lockhart, said yesterday the central bank should be prepared to take action if the economy deteriorates further.
Fed Chairman Ben S. Bernanke is scheduled to testify on the outlook for the economy in Congress today. The policy-setting Federal Open Market Committee meets June 19 to June 20 to consider whether to add to its record easing after the economy created the fewest jobs in a year in May.
India yesterday outlined port projects worth an equivalent of $6.3 billion for the financial year through March 2013, an investment target of $3.6 billion for Mumbai’s elevated rail corridor and plans to add airports. “In these difficult times we must do everything possible to revive business and investor sentiment,” Singh said in New Delhi.
Greece, Spain
About eight stocks rose for each one that fell on the MSCI Asia Pacific Index. The gauge plunged 15 percent from a six- month high in February through June 4 as U.S. economic data trailed estimates and concern grew about Greece’s future in the euro and Spain’s deteriorating national finances.
South Korea’s Kospi index rallied 2.8 percent as the market reopened after a public holiday, while its currency strengthened 0.8 percent from its June 5 close to 1,171 per dollar. Samsung Electronics Co. climbed 4.2 percent even as Apple Inc. sought to block sales of Samsung’s latest Galaxy smartphones in the U.S.
BHP Billiton Ltd., the world’s largest mining company, jumped 1.8 percent in Sydney, pacing gains among Australian stocks, as the country’s resources boom drove the increase in hiring. HTC Corp. slumped to the lowest level in almost two years in Taipei trading after the company cut its second-quarter revenue forecast and Apple filed a new action seeking to stop the sale of HTC’s latest handsets in the U.S.
Nuclear Inspections
Oil rose to $85.50 a barrel in a fourth day of gains, the longest winning streak since April. Prices may rebound on policy measures, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. said. Crude gained after Iran pulled back from a deal to allow expanded nuclear inspections before a third round of talks with Western nations this month.
Copper advanced 0.6 percent to $7,457.75 a metric ton on the London Metal Exchange.
The Australian dollar strengthened to 99.50 U.S. cents, heading for its highest close since May 14. The increase in employment compares with the median estimate for no change in a Bloomberg survey of 23 economists. The jobless rate rose to 5.1 percent from a revised 5 percent in April.
The data underscore the strength of the world’s 13th- largest economy, which expanded 1.3 percent last quarter as resource investment surged, more than twice the level forecast by economists.
Bank Downgrades
The Markit iTraxx Australia index of default swap contracts fell 6.5 basis points to 195.5 basis points, according to Deutsche Bank AG. The gauge is set for its biggest daily drop since Feb. 1 and lowest close since May 29, CMA data show. The Markit iTraxx Japan index tumbled 7 basis points to 189, Citigroup Inc. prices show. The gauge is headed for the biggest drop and lowest close since May 28, according to CMA.
Germany’s credit-default swaps rose yesterday to exceed those on Japan’s bonds for the first time in three years as downgrades of banks in the European nation by Moody’s Investors Service highlighted the risk of debt contagion in the region.
Default swaps protecting bunds for five years rose to 104.94 basis points yesterday while Japan’s slid to 103.79, the first time Germany’s were more expensive since May 29, 2009, according to CMA prices compiled by Bloomberg.
Commerzbank AG, Germany’s second-largest bank, was among seven lenders in the nation downgraded by Moody’s yesterday, which cited “the increased risk of further shocks emanating from the euro area debt crisis.”
To contact the reporters on this story: Richard Frost in Hong Kong at rfrost4@bloomberg.net ; Adam Haigh in Sydney at ahaigh1@bloomberg.net "
Steven Morris CA (SA)
Mobie : 083 943 1858
Fax: 086 671 2498
E-Mail: steven@global.co.za
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