Asian Stocks Fluctuate as Japan Slide Offsets Commodity Gains

April 6 (Bloomberg) -- Asian stocks fluctuated as the MSCI Asia Pacific Index hovered near a 19-month high, with declines in Japanese stocks offsetting gains in raw material producers.

Toyota Motor Corp., the world’s biggest automaker, dropped 1.2 percent after U.S. government said the company “knowingly hid a dangerous defect” that caused some of its vehicles to accelerate unexpectedly. BHP Billiton Ltd., Australia’s biggest oil producer and the world’s largest mining company, advanced 2 percent after copper and oil prices advanced. Canon Inc., the world’s biggest camera maker, slid 1.6 percent, as the yen appreciated, dampening the earnings outlook for Japanese exporters.

“Markets and commodities are returning to levels from before the collapse of Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc.” in September 2008, said Fumiyuki Nakanishi, a senior strategist at SMBC Friend Securities Co. in Tokyo.

The MSCI Asia Pacific Index gained 0.1 percent to 126.98 as of 10:23 a.m. in Tokyo after falling as much as 0.1 percent. An equal number of stocks rose as fell. The gauge, which earlier touched its highest level since Aug. 12, 2008, has climbed 11 percent from its 2010 low on Feb. 8 as a Federal Reserve pledge to keep borrowing costs down and better-than-estimated economic data boosted investor sentiment.

Japan’s Nikkei 225 Stock Average slipped 0.6 percent to 11,266.71 in Tokyo. Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 Index and New Zealand’s NZX 50 Index both advanced 0.7 percent. Markets in Hong Kong and Thailand are closed today for holidays.