BLBG:Asian Stocks Climb to Two-Week High; Euro Advances With Copper
Asian stocks rose to a two-week high on signs China’s manufacturing is rebounding and as European Union leaders prepared to hold budget talks. The euro strengthened, while copper paced gains in industrial metals.
The MSCI Asia Pacific Index (MXAP) climbed 0.9 percent as of 3:35 p.m. in Tokyo. The Nikkei 225 Stock Average rallied 1.6 percent to a six-month high. Standard & Poor’s 500 Index futures added 0.2 percent in the U.S., where markets are closed today for the Thanksgiving holiday. The euro advanced against 12 of its 16 major counterparts, while the yen snapped six days of declines against the dollar. Copper rose 0.4 percent in London.
A survey signaling the first expansion in China’s factory output in 13 months boosted optimism that growth in the world’s second-largest economy is recovering after a seven-quarter slowdown. Reports today may show manufacturing in Germany and the euro-area contracted this month. Leaders of the 27 EU nations gather today for negotiations in Brussels. Israel and Hamas agreed to a cease-fire after a weeklong conflict.
“Chinese activity has been picking up since September and it’s an indication that the economy has stabilized,” Gopal Agrawal, chief investment officer of Mirae Asset Global Investments (India) Pvt., said by phone today in Mumbai. “The truce between Israel and Hamas is sentimentally positive as it may help stabilize oil prices.”
Israel and the Palestinian militant group 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.
All industries on MSCI’s Asian gauge rose, with measures tracking consumer discretionary and technology companies up at least 1.2 percent. Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 Index gained 1 percent and South Korea’s Kospi index added 0.8 percent.
Stock Volatility
China’s Shanghai Composite Index slid 0.8 percent. Liquor makers plunged, led by Wuliangye Yibin Co., after Xinhua News Agency cited the nation’s quality watchdog as saying samples made by JiuGuiJiu Co. contain excessive levels of plasticizer.
The MSCI Emerging Markets Index added 0.3 percent as 50-day volatility on the gauge fell to the lowest since 2004.
The preliminary reading was 50.4 for a Chinese 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.
The euro rose to $1.2847 after earlier touching $1.2868, the highest since Nov. 7. The yen weakened to as low as 82.59 per dollar, the lowest since April, from 82.52 yesterday, before trading at 82.48.
Europe Talks
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. The euro debt crisis and a deadlock over Greek aid raise the stakes for the talks, testing whether the 27-nation bloc is heading for more integration and whether Britain, a foe of EU spending since the days of Margaret Thatcher, will say it’s had enough.
Copper for delivery in three months added 0.4 percent to $7,724.75 a ton in London Metal Exchange trading. Tin rose 0.4 percent and lead gained 0.4 percent.
Oil futures advanced 0.1 percent to $87.49 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.
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.
To contact the reporter on this story: Richard Frost in Hong Kong at rfrost4@bloomberg.net; Shikhar Balwani in Mumbai at sbalwani@bloomberg.net
To contact the editor responsible for this story: James Poole at jpoole4@bloomberg.net
