Asian stocks rose, heading for a fifth weekly advance, and South Korea’s won strengthened after U.S. jobless claims fell to the lowest level in almost four years and Spanish and French borrowing costs declined.
The MSCI Asia Pacific Index (MXAP) increased 0.8 percent as of 9:46 a.m. in Tokyo, bringing its five-day advance to 2.8 percent. The Nikkei 225 Stock Average jumped 1.4 percent, while Standard & Poor’s 500 futures were little changed. The won climbed 0.3 percent to 1,133.78 per dollar for a fourth day of gains. Gold lost 0.2 percent and the greenback touched a two-week low versus the euro.
Asian stocks have rallied 12 percent since a two-year low in October and copper reached a 17-week high yesterday amid speculation that China may take steps to stimulate growth in the world’s second-largest economy. Google Inc. reported lower-than- estimated fourth-quarter revenue and profit, while American Express Co. said card spending reached a record and International Business Machines Corp.’s forecast for 2012 earnings exceeded analysts’ projections.
France sold 7.97 billion euros of notes with the average yield on the benchmark two-year notes sliding to 1.05 percent from 1.58 percent in October. Spain issued debt due 2022 at an average of 5.403 percent, down from 6.975 percent in November.
The S&P 500 added 0.5 percent to 1,314.5 yesterday, the highest closing level since July 26, and the Nasdaq-100 Index reached an almost 11-year high. Schlumberger Ltd., General Electric Co. and SunTrust Banks Inc. are among U.S. companies scheduled to report fourth-quarter results today.
Initial jobless claims fell by 50,000 to 352,000 in the week ended Jan. 14, the lowest level since April 2008, Labor Department figures showed yesterday.
Google Inc. (GOOG) plunged as much as 10 percent in trading after the close of U.S. exchanges. The owner of the world’s most popular Internet search engine reported fourth-quarter revenue and profit that missed analysts’ estimates as an economic slowdown in Europe crimped international sales.
To contact the reporter on this story: Lynn Thomasson in Hong Kong at lthomasson@bloomberg.net
To contact the editor responsible for this story: Shelley Smith at ssmith118@bloomberg.net
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