Asian Stocks Rise After U.S. Jobless Report Bolsters Confidence

March 19 (Bloomberg) -- Asian stocks rose, driving the MSCI Asia Pacific Index toward a fourth weekly advance, after U.S. jobs and manufacturing reports boosted confidence in a global economic recovery.

Sony Corp., which makes Bravia televisions and the PlayStation 3 video-game system, climbed 2.2 percent in Tokyo. Honda Motor Co., a Japanese carmaker that gets 44 percent of its sales in North America, rose 1.4 percent. Advantech Co., an industrial-computer maker that gets a third of its sales in North America, jumped 7 percent in Taipei. Kia Motors Corp., South Korea’s second-largest automaker, gained 3.7 percent in Seoul after saying it will boost production capacity in Europe.

The MSCI Asia Pacific Index gained 0.2 percent to 124.58 as of 10:21 a.m. in Tokyo, with about twice as many stocks advancing as declining. Equities have rallied in the past six weeks as concerns over monetary tightening and Greece’s debt receded, and as companies from Woolworths Ltd. to Nissan Motor Co. reported better-than-expected earnings.

“The U.S. economy is improving day by day, and so is the global economy,” said Hiroichi Nishi, an equities manager at Nikko Cordial Securities Inc. in Tokyo. “People are beginning to expect better corporate earnings.”

Japan’s Nikkei 225 Stock Average rose 0.4 percent, the biggest increase among Asia-Pacific equity benchmarks. Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 Index gained 0.1 percent. South Korea’s Kospi index was little changed.

U.S. Reports

Futures on the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index slipped 0.1 percent after the gauge closed little changed yesterday. A Labor Department report showed first-time jobless applications dropped in the week ended March 13, while the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia’s general economic index rose in March to the highest level this year.

Sony, which gets about a quarter of its revenue from the U.S., climbed 2.2 percent to 3,505 yen. Honda, Japan’s second- largest carmaker, rose 1.4 percent to 3,245 yen. Advantech surged 7 percent to NT$70.5 in Taipei.

Kia Motors gained 3.7 percent to 23,650 won in Seoul. The company will add a 100 million-euro ($137 million) engine unit to its factory in Slovakia to boost production capacity in Europe, Kia’s Slovak affiliate said yesterday.

The MSCI Asia Pacific Index has gained 9.1 percent from its lowest level in more than two months on Feb. 8, as better-than- estimated U.S. employment data and a pledge of support from French President Nicolas Sarkozy for debt-stricken Greece bolstered confidence in the global recovery.

The average price of stocks in the index has risen to 18.9 times estimated earnings on average from 18 at February’s low.