By Lynn Thomasson and Yoshiaki Nohara - Dec 16, 2011 10:27 AM GMT+0700 .
Asian stocks (MXAP) rose for the first time in four days as metals and the Australian dollar climbed after better-than-expected U.S. data signaled the world’s biggest economy is strengthening.
The MSCI Asia Pacific Index gained 0.4 percent as of 12:13 p.m. in Tokyo, paring a 2.7 percent drop for the week. Standard & Poor’s 500 Index futures increased 0.3 percent. The Chinese yuan strengthened the most in two months, the Indonesian rupiah appreciated and the Australian dollar advanced against most of its 16 major counterparts. Gold, copper and aluminum rose at least 0.6 percent.
U.S. initial jobless claims unexpectedly dropped to a three-year low and Federal Reserve gauges of manufacturing in the New York and Philadelphia regions topped estimates. Singapore’s exports exceeded economists’ projections, while Fitch Ratings boosted Indonesia’s sovereign debt ratings to investment grade. European Central Bank President Mario Draghi said yesterday there’s no “external savior” for indebted countries that don’t implement structural reforms and the central bank’s buying government bonds isn’t limitless.
“The U.S. economy is ending the year in a bit better shape than people had anticipated, and that is good, but Europe is obviously not,” said Stephen Halmarick, Sydney-based head of investment markets research at Colonial First State Global Asset Management, which oversees about $150 billion. “The European economy is heading toward recession next year, and I think it’s going to continue to weigh on markets.”
Euro Gains
The euro climbed 0.2 percent to $1.3041, trimming the biggest weekly decline in three months. Italian Prime Minister Mario Monti faces a confidence vote in Parliament today to speed passage of a 30 billion-euro ($39 billion) emergency budget plan aimed at spurring growth.
S&P 500 futures rose to 1,214.80. The number of applications for unemployment payments in the U.S. dropped by 19,000 to 366,000 in the week ended Dec. 10, a lower total than was forecast by any of 47 economists surveyed by Bloomberg News, according to government figures released yesterday.
About two stocks rose for each that fell in the MSCI Asia Pacific Index, which has fallen 19 percent this year. The Nikkei 225 Stock Average increased 0.3 percent and Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 Index climbed 0.4 percent.
New China Life Insurance Co., the nation’s third-largest life insurer, surged 14 percent on its first trading day in Shanghai.
The Chinese currency gained as much as 0.7 percent to 6.3294 per dollar, the strongest level since China unified official and market exchange rates at the end of 1993, as signs credit curbs are easing bolsters optimism policy makers will avoid a sharp slowdown in the world’s second-largest economy.
‘Improved Sentiment’
“Improved sentiment in global markets is helping as is news that China is easing curbs in the property sector which will limit downside risks to growth,” said Dariusz Kowalczyk, Hong Kong-based senior strategist at Credit Agricole CIB.
Indonesia’s rupiah gained 0.2 percent to 9,070 per dollar. The country’s long-term foreign and local currency debt was raised to BBB- from BB+, Fitch said in a statement yesterday. It had lost the investment grade rating in December 1997, during the Asian financial crisis.
India’s SGX S&P CNX Nifty Index futures for December delivery were little changed in Singapore. India’s central bank will probably leave interest rates unchanged for the first time since 2010, ending a streak of seven increases. All 13 economists in a Bloomberg survey predict that the Reserve Bank of India will hold the repurchase rate at a three-year high of 8.5 percent today.
Gold, Copper
Immediate-delivery gold rose for the first time in five days, gaining 0.6 percent to $1,579.57 an ounce. Copper for three-month delivery climbed 0.9 percent to $7,278 a metric ton on the London Metal Exchange. Aluminum increased 1 percent to $1,995 a ton.
Oil rose less than 0.1 percent to $93.92 a barrel, poised for a 5.5 percent weekly retreat, the most since September. Wheat for March delivery fell 0.2 percent to $5.78 a bushel in Chicago. The price earlier dipped to $5.7725, matching a level reached yesterday, the lowest for the most-active contract since July 21, 2010, on reports of increased supplies from Canada and Argentina.
The cost of insuring Asia corporate and sovereign bonds against non-payment decreased, according to traders of credit- default swaps. The Markit iTraxx Asia index of 40 investment- grade borrowers outside Japan fell 4 basis points to 212 basis points, Royal Bank of Scotland Group Plc prices show. The gauge is set for its lowest close since Dec. 15, according to data provider CMA.
To contact the reporters on this story: Lynn Thomasson in Hong Kong at lthomasson@bloomberg.net; Yoshiaki Nohara in Tokyo at ynohara1@bloomberg.net
To contact the editor responsible for this story: Richard Dobson at rdobson4@bloomberg.net
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