Asian Stocks Advance on IMF Pledges While Dollar Weakens By Lynn Thomasson and Adam Haigh - Apr 22, 2012

Copper fell, paring the biggest weekly gain in two months, on speculation that China’s imports dropped last month. The dollar strengthened against most major counterparts, while Asian shares retreated. Copper for delivery in three months declined 1 percent to $8,107 a metric ton on the London Metal Exchange as of 11:14 a.m. in Tokyo. The MSCI Asia Pacific Index (MXAP) slipped 0.3 percent and the Hang Seng China Enterprises Index lost 0.8 percent. Standard & Poor’s 500 Index futures fell 0.3 percent. Japan’s 10-year bond yield dropped 1 1/2 basis points to 0.915 percent, the lowest level since November 2010. The dollar rose 0.2 percent against the euro. HSBC Holdings Plc and Markit Economics are set to release data on Chinese factory output in April today and other reports may show Europe’s manufacturing and services industries contracted this month. China Vanke Co., the nation’s biggest developer by sales, and Alibaba.com Ltd. are among companies scheduled to release earnings. International Monetary Fund members pledged more than $430 billion to safeguard the global economy as meetings ended yesterday in Washington. The Nikkei 225 Stock Average (NKY) fell 0.3 percent after earlier gaining as much as 0.9 percent. South Korea’s Kospi index slid 0.3 percent and Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 Index lost 0.3 percent. Yakult Honsha Co. jumped 12 percent in Tokyo after the Nikkei newspaper reported Danone may increase its stake in Japan’s largest non-alcoholic beverages maker by market value. Paris-based Danone owns about 20 percent of Yakult, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. Copper dropped for the first time in three days before the release of Chinese refined copper import data today. To contact the reporters on this story: Lynn Thomasson in Hong Kong at lthomasson@bloomberg.net; Adam Haigh in Sydney at ahaigh1@bloomberg.net To contact the editor responsible for this story: James Poole at jpoole4@bloomberg.net ®2012 BLOOMBERG L.P. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.