Asia Stocks Gain, Default Risk Declines on U.S. Jobs; Won, Copper Advance

Asian shares rose, lifting the region’s benchmark index to a four-week high, and the cost of protecting bonds against default fell after better-than-expected U.S. jobs data eased concern the global economy is faltering.

Technology stocks led gains on the MSCI Asia Pacific Index, which rose 0.9 percent to 121.05 as of 11:30 a.m. in Tokyo. Standard & Poor’s 500 Index futures added 0.3 percent. U.S. markets will be closed for the Labor Day holiday. The Markit iTraxx Asia index of credit-default swaps dropped 6.5 basis points, the most since Aug. 2, Royal Bank of Scotland Group Plc prices show. The won and copper futures in London both gained.

Samsung Electronics Co. said it may invest 30 trillion won （$26 billion） in 2011 and LG Electronics Inc. plans to boost liquid-crystal-display TV sales by 40 percent next year, lifting shares of Asian technology companies. Demand for Asian consumer electronics may be supported by a rebound in the U.S., where private payrolls rose 67,000 in August, topping the 40,000 median estimate in a Bloomberg News survey of economists.

“The jobs report late on Friday will be encouragement for Asian investors,” said Mark Konyn, chief executive officer of RCM Asia Pacific Ltd., in a Bloomberg Television interview in Hong Kong. The report, along with manufacturing data from the U.S. and China last week, “is going to give investors a little bit of a lift at a time when they are looking for clues because they are concerned about a double dip in the U.S.,” he said.

More than three stocks gained for each that retreated on the MSCI Asia index, which was poised for the highest close since Aug. 9. Japan’s Nikkei 225 Stock Average rallied 1.5 percent while South Korea’s Kospi index increased 0.5 percent.

Samsung, Hon Hai

An industry group tracking technology companies was the best performer on the MSCI index, rising 1.3 percent. Samsung, Asia’s biggest maker of chips, flat screens and mobile phones, gained 1.6 percent. Advances were limited by a 4 percent slump in Hon Hai Precision Industry Co., the world’s largest contract manufacturer, after Chairman Terry Gou cut the company’s long- term growth target.

Steel & Tube Holdings Ltd. jumped 6.8 percent and Fletcher Building Ltd. gained 4.4 percent, leading New Zealand’s building stocks higher after a magnitude 7.0 earthquake hit Christchurch, the second-biggest city. In Australia, Macquarie Group Ltd. tumbled 4.9 percent after saying first-half profit will fall 25 percent.

Bond risk benchmark indexes elsewhere in the region also declined. The Markit iTraxx Australia index fell 6 basis points to 113, according to Westpac Banking Corp, while the Markit iTraxx Japan index decreased 3 basis points to 104, Morgan Stanley prices show.

Copper Rallies

Three-month copper futures on the London Metal Exchange gained for a fourth day, the best positive run in more than a month. Copper, used in pipes and wires, climbed as much as 1 percent to $7,720 a metric ton in London. Nickel, zinc, lead, tin and aluminum also climbed.

The won appreciated 0.2 percent to 1,172.25 per dollar and reached 1,169.20, the strongest level since Aug. 10. Thailand’s baht strengthened 0.3 percent to 31.11 per dollar, its highest since March 20, 2008.

Reports due later this week may also show the recovery is gaining momentum in Germany, Europe’s largest economy. The Economy Ministry tomorrow may say factory orders, adjusted for seasonal swings and inflation, rose 0.5 percent in July, while a Sept. 8 report may show industrial production probably expanded 1 percent, according to the median forecast of economists surveyed by Bloomberg.

“There was a lot of pessimism” before the release of the U.S. jobs report, said Michael Rainer Preiss, chief equities strategist at Standard Chartered Bank, in a Bloomberg Television interview in Singapore. “The market is now realizing that things are bad but not as bad as people had previously priced in.”