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Tuesday, December 6, 2011

Asia Stocks Gain on Europe Optimism By Kana Nishizawa and Toshiro Hasegawa - Dec 6, 2011

Asian stocks (MXAPJ) rose on speculation the European leaders meeting this week in Brussels will step up efforts to fight the debt crisis to stave off lower national credit ratings that will make funding bailouts more costly.

Nintendo Co., a maker of video-game players that gets 34 percent of its sales in Europe, rose 1.2 percent in Osaka after a report that sales of a handheld game machine will reach target ahead of schedule. Meiji Holdings Co., a Japanese dairy-products producer, gained 3.6 percent after slumping the most since March 15 yesterday on a report radioactive cesium was found in some its products. Hyundai Development Co. (012630), a South Korean builder, rose 3.3 percent after a report the government will announce measures to spur housing markets.

“There is an expectation in the market that Europe will advance measures to overcome the debt issues,” said Hiroichi Nishi, an equities manager in Tokyo at SMBC Nikko Securities Inc. “While there’s a sense of expectation in the market, investors still want to see the results of meetings this week of the European Union and European Central Bank.”

The MSCI Asia Pacific Index (MXAP) rose 0.6 percent to 117.29 as of 9:46 a.m. in Tokyo. All 10 industry groups on the measure gained, with about four stocks advancing for each that dropped.

Japan’s Nikkei 225 Stock Average (NKY) rose 0.8 percent. Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 index gained 0.7 percent after its economy grew more than estimated during the third quarter. South Korea’s Kospi Index advanced 0.5 percent.

To contact the reporters on this story: Kana Nishizawa in Hong Kong at knishizawa5@bloomberg.net; Toshiro Hasegawa in Tokyo at thasegawa6@bloomberg.net

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Nick Gentle at ngentle2@bloomberg.net
®2011 BLOOMBERG L.P. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

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