Asian Stocks Rise on U.S. Jobs, BOJ Speculation; Sony Advances

March 5 (Bloomberg) -- Asian stocks rose for the fourth time in five days after U.S. jobless claims fell and the Nikkei newspaper reported that the Bank of Japan may further loosen monetary policy.

Billabong International Ltd., a surfwear maker that gets 44 percent of its revenue from the Americas, climbed 2.9 percent in Sydney. Sony Corp., the maker of the PlayStation 3 game machine, rose 2.7 percent as a weaker yen boosted the outlook for export earnings. STX Pan Ocean Co. and Korea Line Corp., South Korea’s biggest bulk-shipping lines, advanced more than 2 percent in Seoul after an index of freight rates rose the most since July.

The U.S. economy is “steadily recovering,” said Juichi Wako, a senior strategist at Tokyo-based Nomura Holdings Inc. “If implemented, the BOJ’s measures may widen a gap in the U.S.’s and Japan’s borrowing costs and halt a further appreciation of the yen.”

The MSCI Asia Pacific Index advanced 0.7 percent to 120.51 as of 9:46 a.m. in Tokyo. The gauge has fallen 4.9 percent from a 17-month high on Jan. 15 on concern over budget deficits in Europe and speculation governments around the world will start withdrawing economic stimulus policies.

Japan’s Nikkei 225 Stock Average climbed 2 percent and South Korea’s Kospi Index gained 0.7 percent. Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 Index rose 0.5 percent, while New Zealand’s NZX 50 Index lost 0.1 percent, even after the Treasury Department said the nation’s budget cash deficit in the seven months ended Jan. 31 was narrower than forecast.