Asian stocks rose, driving a regional benchmark index to a six-week high, on optimism governments will succeed in efforts to revive lending, easing the worst slump since the Great Depression. U.S. futures gained. Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group Inc. surged 6.1 percent in Tokyo, pacing gains among financial companies, before a U.S. Treasury announcement today of plans to rid banks of toxic assets. Uny Co., a Japanese department store operator, jumped 4.6 percent after Finance Minister Kaoru Yosano said the economy may need 20 trillion yen ($207 billion) in new stimulus. Angang Steel Co. gained 2.5 percent in Shenzhen, southern China, as the government moved to encourage mergers in the industry. “Stocks are building a base for the next bull market,” Mark Mobius, who helps oversee about $20 billion of emerging- market assets at Templeton Asset Management Ltd, said in Hong Kong today. The firm is finding “bargains” in every emerging market, he said. The MSCI Asia Pacific Index advanced 3.1 percent to 82.01 at 1:06 p.m. in Tokyo, set to close at the highest since Feb. 11. The measure extended last week’s 6.4 percent increase, which was the most since November. The gauge has surged 16 percent from a five-year low reached on March 9 amid speculation the worst of the financial crisis is over. Japan’s Nikkei 225 Stock Average jumped 3 percent to 8,186.21, following a March 20 holiday. Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 Index added 2.1 percent, while South Korea’s Kospi Index rose 2.4 percent. All markets gained except Vietnam and New Zealand. BHP Billiton Ltd., the world’s biggest mining company, climbed 3.7 percent in Sydney on higher oil and copper prices. Samsung Electronics Co. added 1.9 percent in Seoul as Goldman, Sachs & Co. said the company’s earnings will recover faster than at its rivals. NSK Ltd., a Japanese bearing maker, slipped 2.8 percent after forecasting a full-year net loss. Regulatory Changes Futures on the U.S. Standard & Poor’s 500 Index climbed 1.4 percent. The gauge slid 2 percent on March 20 as analysts cut earnings estimates for General Electric Co. Stocks worldwide advanced last week, lifting the MSCI World Index by 4.4 percent, as the U.S. and Japan announced more plans to bolster their financial systems and as Standard Chartered Plc became the latest lender to say it had a strong start to 2009. The U.S. will this week outline regulatory changes aimed at avoiding a repeat of the financial crisis, an administration official said. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner wrote in a Wall Street Journal article the U.S. will establish an investment program that may provide financing of as much as $1 trillion to purchase real estate-related assets from banks and securities “from the broader market.” Mitsubishi UFJ, Japan’s biggest publicly traded bank, rose 6.1 percent to 519 yen. Mizuho Financial Group Inc., Japan’s second-largest publicly traded bank, gained 5.7 percent to 221 yen. Uny jumped 4.6 percent to 732 yen. Mergers, Acquisitions Japan’s Yosano said yesterday that a new stimulus package would require trillions of yen and that a figure of 20 trillion yen ($209 billion) is “not out of line.” An index of finance stocks on the MSCI Asia Pacific Index climbed 3.8 percent, the most of 10 industry groups. The finance gauge is the worst performer in the past 12 months, as credit- related losses worldwide swelled to more than $1.2 trillion. “There are glimmers of hope that a cataclysmic-type outcome won’t eventuate,” said Tim Schroeders, who helps manage about $2.6 billion at Pengana Capital Ltd. in Melbourne. “There are signs that in the banking system things are starting to bottom out, but further work needs to be done.” Angang Steel, China’s second-largest steelmaker, advanced 2.5 percent to 8.48 yuan. Baoshan Iron & Steel Co., which is owned by China’s largest producer, added 1.4 percent to 5.79 yuan. SAIC Motor Co., the nation’s biggest domestic carmaker, advanced 1.7 percent to 9.70 yuan. Declining Valuations China plans to create five steelmakers accounting for more than 45 percent of output within three years and the nation’s 15 biggest automakers will be consolidated into 10 companies, the State Council, or the cabinet, said in a statement on March 20. Taxes on steel imports and exports will be also reviewed. The country’s stimulus spending may add as much as 1.9 percentage points to economic expansion and help the government achieve its growth target this year, to the State Council’s research group said yesterday. The MSCI Asia Pacific has fallen 40 percent in the past year as the global recession pummeled earnings at companies including BHP and Samsung. Stocks on the gauge are trading at an average 1.09 times book value on March 9, having averaged 1.8 times in the past five years, data compiled by Bloomberg show. “Whilst markets are cheap on any historical standard for long-term investors, we still see uncertainties, and I don’t think we are out of the woods yet,” Tahnoon Pasha, regional head of equities at MFC Global Investment Management (Asia), which oversees $3 billion, said in a March 20 interview. Oil, Copper Advance BHP, Australia’s largest oil producer, climbed 3.7 percent to A$33.37. KNM Group Bhd., a Malaysian oil and gas services provider, jumped 6.9 percent to 38.5 sen. Cnooc Ltd., China’s largest offshore oil producer, surged 6 percent to HK$7.98. Crude oil for May delivery added as much as 1.6 percent to $52.90 a barrel today in after-hours electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Copper rose as much as 1 percent. Samsung Electronics, the world’s biggest computer-memory maker, gained 1.9 percent to 552,000 won. The stock was rated “neutral” in new coverage at Goldman Sachs, which said the company’s technological and financial edge will spur a faster earnings recovery than at its competitors. NSK slipped 2.6 percent to 378 yen. The company on March 19 cut its forecast for the year ending March 31 to a net loss of 4 billion yen ($42 million), from 12 billion yen in profit. It cited production cuts at automakers.

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