Asian Stocks Advance for Second Day on U.S. Economic Data, Ireland Hopes

Asian stocks rose, driving up the main regional index for a second day, on signs a U.S. economic recovery is accelerating and on speculation a bailout for Ireland will prevent the nation’s banking crisis from spreading.

Canon Inc., a Japanese camera maker that derives about 80 percent of its revenue abroad, advanced 0.9 percent in Tokyo as the dollar traded near a six-week high against the yen. BHP Billiton Ltd., the world’s largest mining company, advanced 0.8 percent in Sydney after commodity prices climbed. Komatsu Ltd., a maker of earth movers that gets more than 75 percent of its revenue outside Japan, climbed 0.7 percent.

The MSCI Asia Pacific Index rose 0.5 percent to 132.35 as of 9:45 a.m. in Tokyo, extending yesterday’s 1.4 percent climb. The gauge is rebounding after concern over how China will tackle the fastest inflation in two years triggered a global stock rout.

“Upward momentum in the U.S. economy was confirmed, so concerns that the yen will appreciate further receded,” said Juichi Wako, a senior strategist at Tokyo-based Nomura Holdings Inc. “Exporters will likely lead gains as worries about their earnings have decreased.”

Japan’s Nikkei 225 Stock Average rose 0.8 percent. South Korea’s Kospi Index increased 0.5 percent. Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 Index and New Zealand’s NZX 50 Index each gained 0.6 percent.

Ireland Bailout

Futures on the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index were little changed. The index gained 1.5 percent yesterday as speculation grew that Ireland will accept a bailout to rescue indebted banks and reports on U.S. manufacturing and jobless claims bolstered optimism about the economy.

Irish Finance Minister Brian Lenihan said yesterday the government is prepared to ask for a bank rescue after talks with the European Union and International Monetary Fund, which sent teams to Dublin yesterday.

“When details of the EU’s support for Ireland become clear, uncertainties about the outlook of heavily indebted countries will decrease,” Nomura’s Wako said.

A report yesterday from the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia showed manufacturing in the Philadelphia region expanded in November at the fastest pace this year. U.S. applications for unemployment-insurance payments rose by 2,000 to 439,000 in the week ended Nov. 13, Labor Department figures showed yesterday in Washington. That was lower than the median estimate of 441,000 of 46 economists in the Bloomberg survey.

The yen depreciated to 83.79 against the dollar about 1 a.m. today in Tokyo, the weakest level since Oct. 5. A weaker yen boosts the value of overseas income at Japanese companies when converted into their home currency.

The MSCI Asia Pacific Index increased 9.3 percent through yesterday in 2010, compared with gains of 7.3 percent by the S&P 500 and 6.8 percent by the Stoxx Europe 600 Index. Stocks in the Asian benchmark are valued at 14.5 times estimated earnings, compared with 14.1 times for the S&P 500 and 12.2 times for the Stoxx 600.