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Jan. 3 (Bloomberg) -- Asian stocks rose to a three-week high, commodities advanced and the Australian dollar climbed on signs of increased manufacturing output around the world. The cost of insuring Asia-Pacific bonds from default declined.
The MSCI Asia Pacific Excluding Japan Index jumped 1.7 percent as of 12 p.m. in Hong Kong, poised for the highest close since Dec. 12. The so-called Aussie gained against most of its 16 major peers and South Korea’s won strengthened 0.5 percent to 1,150.09 per dollar. Oil advanced 1.4 percent to $100.26 a barrel. The Markit iTraxx Asia index of 40 investment-grade borrowers outside Japan fell 3 basis points to 203.5, Royal Bank of Scotland Group Plc prices show.
Australian manufacturing expanded for the first time in six months, an industry survey showed today, adding to evidence the global economy is strengthening after German and Chinese factory output reports beat economist estimates in the past two days. Data later today may show a U.S. manufacturing gauge climbed to a six-month high in December, according to a survey of economists’ forecasts compiled by Bloomberg.
“Positive economic data provide a catalyst for a small new-year rally,” said Pauline Dan, who oversees $480 million as chief investment officer at Samsung Asset Management in Hong Kong. “We’ll probably see more headwinds from Europe.”
Stock markets in China, Japan, Thailand and New Zealand were closed for a holiday today. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index advanced 2.1 percent and South Korea’s Kospi Index jumped 2.4 percent. Almost seven stocks rose for each that fell in the MSCI Asia Pacific Excluding Japan Index, which tumbled 18 percent last year, the most since 2008.
Energy Shares
Energy producers led gains in the MSCI gauge, rising 2.7 percent, as all 10 industries advanced. Cnooc Ltd., China’s No. 1 offshore oil producer, increased 5 percent. SK Innovation Co., South Korea’s biggest oil refiner, rallied 7.1 percent.
Singapore’s Straits Times Index climbed 0.9 percent even as data showed the nation’s economy shrank for the second time in three quarters. Gross domestic product fell an annualized 4.9 percent in the fourth quarter of 2011 from the previous three months, the trade ministry said in a statement.
Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 rose for the first time in four days, gaining 1.2 percent. A manufacturing index was 50.2 last month compared with 47.8 in November, the Australian Industry Group and PricewaterhouseCoopers said in a survey released today. It was the third reading for 2011 that was above 50, the dividing line between expansion and contraction.
China Manufacturing
The purchasing managers’ index in China was at 50.3 from 49 in November, the Beijing-based logistics federation said in a statement on Jan. 1. In Germany, the index climbed to 48.4 in December from 48.1, according to report yesterday from Markit Economics.
“If the world economy, in particular the key Asian economies, can avoid a really sharp slowdown in growth, some of the currencies that are more sensitive to that global story are probably going to hold up fairly well,” said Jonathan Cavenagh, a currency strategist in Singapore at Westpac Banking Corp., Australia’s second-largest lender. “The risk is obviously that you start to see the U.S. dollar come under a little bit of pressure.”
Australia’s dollar rose 0.5 percent to $1.0287. The New Zealand dollar also added 0.5 percent to 78.23 U.S. cents. Both currencies touched their highest levels versus the greenback since Dec. 8.
The dollar fell 0.3 percent to $1.2978 per euro as signs that manufacturing is expanding weighed on demand for haven assets. The greenback fetched 76.86 yen from 76.90 yesterday.
Three-month copper on the London Metal Exchange rose 0.7 percent to $7,656 per metric ton. Zinc advanced for a third day, climbing 0.7 percent.
To contact the reporters on this story: Lynn Thomasson in Hong Kong at lthomasson@bloomberg.net ; Jonathan Burgos in Singapore at jburgos4@bloomberg.net
To contact the editor responsible for this story: Darren Boey at dboey@bloomberg.net
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