BLBG:Asian Stocks Climb to Two-Week High; Euro Advances With Copper
Asian stocks rose to a two-week high as Chinese and U.S. data bolstered confidence in the world’s two largest economies. The euro gained before European Union leaders meet for budget talks, while copper increased.
The MSCI Asia Pacific Index (MXAP) climbed 0.8 percent as of 1:39 p.m. in Tokyo. The Nikkei 225 Stock Average increased 1.1 percent to a six-month high. Standard & Poor’s 500 Index futures rose 0.2 percent in the U.S., where markets are closed today for the Thanksgiving holiday. The euro strengthened 0.1 percent against the dollar, while the yen traded near a seven-month low. Copper rose 0.5 percent in London.
A Chinese manufacturing index signaled the first expansion in 13 months, while a U.S. report showed fewer people filed applications for unemployment benefits. Leaders of the 27 EU nations gather today for negotiations in Brussels. Israel and Hamas agreed to a cease-fire after a weeklong conflict.
“The market has momentum,” said Mitsushige Akino, Tokyo- based chief fund officer at Ichiyoshi Asset Management Co., which oversees about 30 billion yen ($364 million).
All industries on MSCI’s Asian gauge rose, with measures tracking consumer discretionary and technology companies up at least 1.1 percent. Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 Index gained 1 percent and South Korea’s Kospi index added 0.9 percent. China’s Shanghai Composite Index slid 0.5 percent.
The MSCI Emerging Markets Index added 0.4 percent as 50-day volatility on the gauge fell to the lowest since 2004.
China Data
The preliminary reading was 50.4 for a purchasing managers’ index released today by HSBC Holdings Plc and Markit Economics. It compares with a final level of 49.5 for October. A reading above 50 indicates expansion.
A recovery in manufacturing would bolster prospects for a sustained pickup in economic growth that slowed last quarter to the weakest pace in more than three years.
U.S. jobless claims fell by 41,000 to 410,000 last week, Labor Department data showed. The Conference Board’s October gauge of leading economic indicators increased 0.2 percent after a revised 0.5 percent gain in September that was lower than initially reported. The Thomson Reuters/University of Michigan final index of consumer sentiment for November was little changed at 82.7, a five-year high, from the prior month’s 82.6. The gauge was projected to rise to 84.5, according to the median forecast economists.
Israel and the Palestinian militant group Hamas agreed to end more than a week of air strikes and missile attacks, after talks brokered by Egypt’s Islamist leaders and the U.S.
Europe Talks
The euro rose to $1.2839 after earlier touching $1.2868, the highest since Nov. 7, and weakened 0.1 percent to 105.77 yen. The yen fell to as low as 82.59 per dollar, the weakest since April, from 82.52 yesterday, before trading at 82.38.
European political leaders -- already sparring over Greece, the fate of the euro, banking union and EU expansion -- need to reach agreement on a proposed 1.033 trillion-euro ($1.3 trillion) package for the years 2014-2020.
Copper for delivery in three months added 0.5 percent to $7,729.25 a ton in London Metal Exchange trading. Tin rose 0.4 percent and lead gained 0.4 percent.
Oil futures advanced 0.2 percent to $87.57 a barrel. Crude inventories in the U.S. dropped by 1.47 million barrels last week, according to the Energy Department. Supplies were forecast to increase by 1 million barrels, according to a Bloomberg survey of analysts.
To contact the reporter on this story: Richard Frost in Hong Kong at rfrost4@bloomberg.net.
To contact the editor responsible for this story: James Poole at jpoole4@bloomberg.net
