Asian stocks gained for the first time in four days amid signs the global economy is improving and better-than-forecast company earnings. The dollar and yen weakened, while silver climbed. The MSCI Asia Pacific Index advanced 0.6 percent as of 3:10 p.m. in Tokyo. Futures on the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index and the Euro Stoxx 50 Index added 0.1 percent. The U.S. currency sank to a 16-month low against the euro. The yen slid versus all of its 16 most-active counterparts and Japanese bonds fell after S&P cut the nation’s debt outlook. The Australian dollar rallied to a record $1.0852 and South Korea’s won jumped the most in a week. Silver rose 0.8 percent. Yanzhou Coal Mining Co. and Hyundai Department Store Co. paced gains after posting higher profits, while a report showed South Korea’s economic growth quickened. Data today are forecast to show Europe’s industrial orders and U.S. durable goods orders increased. Investors are speculating the Federal Reserve, which concludes its two-day policy meeting today, will take more steps to support the U.S. economy after its $600 billion bond-buying program, known as quantitative easing, ends in June. “People are watching the Fed meeting on interest rates and for any indication” on more quantitative easing, said Ronald Wan, Hong Kong-based managing director of China Merchants Securities Co. “Sentiment today has been relatively positive given the calmer economic outlook and after some positive corporate results.” Stocks Rally About five shares climbed for every three that declined on MSCI’s Asia Pacific Index, which is set for the highest close since March 4. Japan’s Nikkei 225 Stock Average advanced 1.4 percent, while Taiwan’s Taiex index gained 1.1 percent. Yanzhou Coal climbed 2.5 percent in Hong Kong after the Chinese coal-mining company reported an 18 percent profit gain. Hyundai Department Store added 3.3 percent in Seoul after saying net income jumped 52 percent. Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. advanced 2.8 percent after Goldman Sachs Group Inc. advised investors to buy shares of the world’s largest customized chipmaker, citing the growth outlook. The S&P 500 gained 0.9 percent yesterday, closing at the highest level since June 2008, after companies from 3M Co. to United Parcel Service Inc. and Ford Motor Co. reported earnings that topped analysts’ estimates. Boeing Co., Conoco Phillips and Starbucks Corp. are among at least 48 S&P 500 members due to release results today, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. Durable Goods Orders U.S. orders for durable goods increased 2 percent in March after a 0.6 percent decline the prior month, according to the median forecast of 46 economists surveyed by Bloomberg News before today’s Commerce Department report. Data yesterday showed the Conference Board’s confidence index rose to 65.4 from a revised 63.8 in March. The median estimate of economists surveyed by Bloomberg News projected an advance to 64.5. Treasuries snapped a three-day gain, sending the yield on 10-year notes two basis points higher to 3.32 percent, according to Bloomberg Bond Trader Prices. The U.S. will to sell $35 billion of five-year notes today. The dollar depreciated to $1.4673 per euro from $1.4644 in New York yesterday, after earlier reaching $1.4714, the lowest since December 2009. The Dollar Index, which tracks the currency against those of six major U.S. trading partners, touched the lowest level in more than two years as the central bank held a two-day meeting that will be followed by Chairman Ben S. Bernanke’s first press conference after a policy decision. The Fed will leave its target rate for overnight lending between banks at zero to 0.25 percent, according to all economists surveyed by Bloomberg News. The central bank may say it plans to complete $600 billion in Treasury purchases by the end of June, a program known as quantitative easing. Aussie, Won “Market players are betting that the Fed will keep policy rates low, and that will weaken the dollar,” said Han Sung Min, a currency dealer at Busan Bank in Seoul. “Hopes for a global recovery are also supporting Asian currencies.” The so-called Aussie traded at $1.0830 after earlier climbing to the strongest since exchange controls were scrapped in 1983. The Bureau of Statistics said consumer prices rose 1.6 percent in the first quarter from the previous three months, beating the median 1.2 percent increase forecast by economists surveyed by Bloomberg News. South Korea’s won strengthened 0.6 percent to 1,079.45 per dollar, set for the biggest gain in a week. Gross domestic product rose 1.4 percent in the first quarter from the previous three months, when it advanced 0.5 percent, the Bank of Korea said today. Debt Rating The yen slipped 0.4 percent to 119.87 per euro after S&P lowered the outlook on Japan’s AA- local-currency government debt rating, citing reconstruction costs following the March 11 quake. The yield on Japan’s 1.3 percent bond due March 2021 rose one basis point to 1.225 percent, after earlier reaching 1.205 percent, the lowest level since March 25. Japan’s trade ministry said today retail sales slumped 8.5 percent in March from a year earlier, adding to signs the earthquake and tsunami are sapping demand. The drop was the biggest since March 1998 and exceeded the median 6.1 percent estimated by 14 economists in a Bloomberg survey. Immediate-delivery gold rose as much as 0.3 percent to $1,510.13 an ounce before trading at $1,508.85. The metal touched a record $1,517.32 on April 25. Silver advanced to $45.8050 per ounce, after earlier jumping as much as 1.6 percent to $46.23. Oil for June delivery was little changed at $112.18 a barrel in New York before a U.S. Energy Department report today that may show supplies climbed 1.7 million barrels from 357 million. Brent crude oil traded at $124.19 a barrel, after rising 0.4 percent to $124.14 yesterday. To contact the reporters on this story: Shiyin Chen in Singapore at schen37@bloomberg.net; Weiyi Lim in Singapore at wlim26@bloomberg.net. To contact the editor responsible for this story: Justin Carrigan at jcarrigan@bloomberg.net.

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