By Shiyin Chen May 27 (Bloomberg) -- Asian shares climbed and the New Zealand dollar and South Korean won strengthened against the yen as markets stabilized from a plunge that has depressed the region’s benchmark stock index by 12 percent this month. The MSCI Asia-Pacific Index rose 1.3 percent to 111.22 as of 1:40 p.m. in Tokyo after New Zealand and South Korea posted current-account surpluses and Japan reported a fifth monthly gain in exports. The measure is still set for the worst monthly performance since October 2008, following the collapse of Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. New Zealand’s dollar climbed 1.4 percent to 60.42 yen, while the won advanced 2.1 percent to 13.6305 per yen, which fell against all 16 major counterparts. Standard & Poor’s 500 Index futures added 1 percent. “Despite the fact that a lot of people think that we are entering into a bear market, we don’t believe so,” said Mark Mobius, who oversees about $34 billion in emerging markets as Templeton Asset Management Ltd.’s Singapore-based executive chairman. “This is a correction in an ongoing bull market.” Mobius’s optimism is shared by Traxis Partners LP’s Barton Biggs, who said U.S. stock markets are oversold and may have a “big pop” over the next few days. Speculation that Europe’s sovereign debt crisis will spread has wiped out about $5.7 trillion in global stock market value this month even as Asian economies show signs of recovery. Japan’s Nikkei 225 Stock Average rose 0.9 percent and the Hang Seng Index added 0.8 percent in Hong Kong. Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 Index gained 0.9 percent, while South Korea’s Kospi index jumped 1.2 percent. BHP, Rio Tinto BHP Billiton Ltd. and Rio Tinto led gains among stocks, rising at least 2.2 percent after the Australian newspaper said the government may change the rate at which a proposed mining tax in the country takes effect. Mitsui O.S.K. Lines Ltd. rose 2.9 percent and China Cosco Holdings Co. rallied 3.1 percent as the Baltic Dry Index, a measure of shipping costs for commodities, rallied for a fourth day. South Korea’s $1.49 billion current account surplus for April helped the won, the worst performer among Asia’s 10 most- used currencies this month, strengthen 2.6 percent to 1,220.25 against the dollar. New Zealand posted its first trade surplus since 2002, and in the Philippines, gross domestic product rose 7.3 percent in the first quarter, beating the 4.4 percent median forecast of 15 economists surveyed by Bloomberg News. Japan’s overseas shipments advanced 40.4 percent in April, adding to signs that Asia-Pacific economies are gathering momentum. That damped demand for safer assets, sending the yen down to 110.56 per euro, declining for the first time in four days. It slipped to 90.18 per dollar from 89.92. Oil Rises Oil rose 24 cents to $71.75 a barrel in New York, following a 4 percent gain yesterday after a government report showed a larger-than-forecast increase in crude inventories in the U.S. Concern that a 750 billion euro ($917 billion) loan package may fail to arrest’s Europe fiscal crisis led to a 20 percent drop in oil prices between May 3 and May 25. “The European concerns are serious, and I take them seriously,” Biggs, whose flagship fund returned three times the industry average, said in a Bloomberg Television interview today. “I just don’t think that the worst is going to happen.” Copper rose 0.7 percent to $6,825 a metric ton in London. The metal has slumped 8 percent this month, which will be its biggest drop most since December 2008. Gold traded at $1,217.80 an ounce, near a one-week high. The cost of insuring Asia-Pacific bonds from non-payment rose, with the Markit iTraxx Asia index of 50 investment-grade borrowers outside Japan climbing 4 basis points to 155.5 basis points, according to Royal Bank of Scotland Group Plc. Credit- default swap indexes also rose in Australia and Japan. To contact the reporter for this story: Shiyin Chen in Singapore at schen37@bloomberg.net.

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