(Bloomberg) -- Asian stocks rose as higher confidence among U.S. homebuilders, a surge in oil prices and a drop in bank borrowing costs stoked optimism the global economy is recovering.
Toyota Motor Corp., which gets a third of its sales in North America, rose 3.1 percent as the yen weakened versus the dollar. BHP Billiton Ltd., Australia’s biggest oil producer, climbed 3.4 percent after crude-oil futures rose to a six-month high. Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group Ltd. gained 5.9 percent as the London interbank offered rate fell the most in two months. Indian stocks were poised to advance after election results triggered a surge in their American depositary receipts.
“The housing market is the most important factor in predicting the direction of an economy,” said Fumiyuki Nakanishi, a strategist at SMBC Friend Securities Co. “When we look back on these times, we’ll see the global economy bottomed out in the April-June period.”
The MSCI Asia Pacific Index advanced 2.2 percent to 98.97 at 11 a.m. in Tokyo. Through yesterday, the gauge climbed 40 percent from a more than five-year low on March 9.
Japan’s Nikkei 225 Stock Average climbed 2.8 percent to 9,293.09. Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 Index added 2.1 percent and South Korea’s Kospi index rose 2 percent. Trading in India is due to resume trading today as a 17 percent surge in the Sensitive Index triggered a suspension yesterday.
Weaker Yen
Futures on the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index were little changed. The gauge climbed 3 percent yesterday, the most in two weeks, as analysts recommended Bank of America Corp. and Lowe’s Cos. beat earnings projections. Separately, the National Association of Home Builders/Wells Fargo index of builders’ confidence advanced in May to the highest level since September.
Toyota rose 3.1 percent to 3,670 yen in Tokyo. Honda Motor Co., which makes 51 percent of its revenue in North America, added 0.9 percent to 2,705 yen. Japanese exporters also rose on speculation a weaker yen will boost the value of overseas sales.
The surge in equities signaled investors are more willing to take risk, making the yen less attractive as a haven. The yen depreciated against the dollar to as much as 96.40 today from 95.03 at the 3 p.m. close of stock trading in Tokyo yesterday. The Japanese currency weakened versus the euro to as much as 130.68 from 127.91.
BHP Billiton, the world’s biggest mining company and Australia’s largest oil producer, rose 3.4 percent to A$34.01. Inpex Corp., Japan’s largest oil explorer, climbed 4.6 percent to 702,000 yen.
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