Asian Stocks Rise as U.S. Data Overshadow Europe Debt Concern

December 22, 2011, 9:33 PM EST By Jonathan Burgos

Dec. 23 (Bloomberg) -- Asian stocks rose, with a regional index heading for its first gain in three weeks, as a drop in U.S. jobless claims and an increase in consumer confidence added to signs the world’s biggest economy is weathering Europe’s debt crisis.

Samsung Electronics Co., South Korea’s biggest exporter of consumer electronics, advanced 1.8 percent in Seoul. James Hardie Industries SE, a supplier of building materials the counts the U.S. as its largest market, climbed 3.9 percent in Sydney. Gloucester Coal Ltd. surged 23 percent after Yanzhou Coal Mining Co. offered to buy the Sydney-based company for A$700 million ($709 million) and merge it with Yanzhou’s Australian unit.

“Its encouraging that the U.S. economy is improving,” said Tim Schroeders, who helps manage $1 billion at Pengana Capital Ltd. Melbourne. “Asset prices can probably go further despite this fairly benign economic environment. There’s probably a need for further policy response in Europe but at least we’re seeing that the liquidity mechanism put in place are starting to impact positively in terms of bond yields paring their gains.”

The MSCI Asia Pacific Excluding Japan Index climbed 1.2 percent to 397.22 as 10:02 a.m. in Hong Kong, heading for a 2.1 percent advance this week. Almost seven shares gained for each that fell in the gauge.

The regional index had fallen in the past two weeks as signs of slowing growth in China and concern that Europe’s debt crisis is worsening overshadowed improving U.S. data. Greece’s creditors are resisting pressure from the International Monetary Fund to accept bigger losses on holdings of the indebted nation’s government bonds, three people with direct knowledge of the discussions said.

New Zealand Quake

South Korea’s Kospi Index and Hong Kong Hang Seng Index both gained 1.1 percent. Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 Index advanced 1 percent. China’s Shanghai Composite Index was little changed. Japanese markets are closed today for a holiday.

New Zealand’s NZX 50 Index added 0.4 percent, paring gains of as much as 0.7 percent after a magnitude 5.8 earthquake struck the country’s South Island.

Futures on the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index rose 0.6 percent today. The gauge rose 0.8 percent in New York yesterday amid better-than-estimated economic reports.

Asian exporters gained as the number of Americans applying for unemployment benefits unexpectedly dropped last week to the lowest since April 2008 and consumer confidence rose more than forecast in December to a six-month high.

The MSCI Asia Pacific Index, which includes Japan, slumped 18 percent this year through yesterday, heading for its worst performance since 2008. Utilities posted the biggest decline among the 10 industry groups in the gauge as Japanese utilities tumbled after meltdowns at Tokyo Electric Power Co.’s Fukushima Dai-Ichi plant. It was the worst nuclear accident in 25 years.

The regional benchmark index’s drop this year compared with a 0.3 percent decline by the S&P 500 and a 13 percent slide by the Stoxx Europe 600 Index. Stocks in the Asian gauge were valued at 12.6 times estimated earnings on average, compared with 12.7 times for the S&P 500 and 10.4 times for the Stoxx 600, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.

--Editor: Nick Gentle

To contact the reporter on this story: Jonathan Burgos in Singapore at jburgos4@bloomberg.net

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Nick Gentle at ngentle2@bloomberg.net

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