Asia Stocks Climb on Australian Jobs Growth, Japan GDP; Westpac, BHP Gain

Asian stocks gained, driving the benchmark index to its sixth advance in seven days, as economic reports from Australia and Japan bolstered confidence in an economic recovery.

Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group Inc., Japan’s biggest publicly traded bank, climbed 2 percent after the cabinet office said the nation’s economy grew faster than previously estimated last quarter. Westpac Banking Group Ltd., Australia’s second- largest bank by market, increased 1.7 percent after Australian employers added more than double the number of workers last month than economist had forecast. BHP Billiton Ltd., the world’s largest mining company, gained 1.1 percent in Sydney after copper futures surged to a record yesterday in New York.

The MSCI Asia Pacific Index rose 0.7 percent to 133.31 as of 10:34 a.m. in Tokyo, with about two stocks advancing for each that declined. The gauge slid 0.6 percent in November after two straight monthly gains as concern grew that China’s anti- inflation measures, Europe’s debt crisis and tensions on the Korean peninsula may cool a global economic recovery.

Japan’s Nikkei 225 Stock Average advanced 0.3 percent. Gross domestic product grew at an annualized 4.5 percent rate in the three months ended Sept. 30, faster than the 3.9 percent reported last month, the Cabinet Office said today. The median forecast of 19 economists surveyed by Bloomberg News was for a 4.1 percent expansion.

Australian Hiring

Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 Index climbed 0.5 percent. The number of people employed gained 54,600 from October, the statistics bureau said today. That compares with the median forecast for a 20,000 increase in a Bloomberg News survey of 26 economists. The jobless rate fell to 5.2 percent from 5.4 percent a month earlier.

South Korea’s Kospi Index gained 0.6 percent.

Futures on the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index climbed 0.4 percent today. The index rose 0.4 percent yesterday to a two- year high, buoyed by a possible extension of U.S. tax cuts and after American International Group Inc. said it will repay a credit line to the Federal Reserve.

The London Metal Exchange Index of six metals including copper and aluminum jumped 1.5 percent yesterday to the highest since Nov. 11. Copper futures climbed to a record close in New York on speculation that demand will outpace production as a global recovery sparks construction of new homes and appliances.

The MSCI Asia Pacific Index climbed 9.9 percent this year through yesterday, compared with gains of 10 percent by the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index and 8.3 percent by the Stoxx Europe 600 Index. Shares in the Asian benchmark are valued at 14.6 times estimated earnings on average, compared with 14.4 times for the S&P 500 and 12.2 times for the Stoxx 600.