Most Asian Stocks Rise on U.S. Jobs, Consumer Confidence Data; Sony Gains

Most Asian stocks rose after U.S. reports showed employment and consumer sentiment improved, boosting confidence in a global economic recovery and driving commodity prices higher.

Sony Corp., a Japanese electronics maker that gets 70 percent of its sales abroad, gained 1.9 percent. Toyota Motor Corp., the world’s biggest carmaker, rose 1.1 percent in Tokyo. Mitsubishi Corp., which gets more than half of sales from commodities, climbed 1.6 percent in Tokyo after oil and copper futures increased. Samsung Electronics Co., Asia’s biggest chipmaker, dropped 1.3 percent in Seoul.

“The global economy is certainly improving, so we don’t have to be pessimistic about the economic outlook,” said Hideaki Higashi, a strategist in Tokyo at SMBC Friend Securities Co. “The market should become more active.”

Three stocks advanced for every two that declined on the MSCI Asia Pacific Index, which was little changed at 130.43 as of 9:30 a.m. in Tokyo. The gauge has fallen 3.5 percent from a two-year high set on Nov. 8 amid speculation China will intensify efforts to tame inflation and on concern a debt crisis in Europe is widening.

Japan’s Nikkei 225 Stock Average rose 0.4 percent. South Korea’s Kospi Index lost 0.1 percent, erasing gains of as much as 0.5 percent earlier. Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 Index increased 0.4 percent.

Futures on the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index slipped 0.1 percent. The index rose 1.5 percent yesterday, the most in four days, after the U.S. Labor Department said jobless claims fell to 407,000 last week. The median projection of economists surveyed by Bloomberg News called for a drop to 435,000. The Thomson Reuters/University of Michigan final index of November consumer sentiment increased to 71.6, the highest level since June and exceeding the median economist estimate of 69.5.

Valuations, Commodities

The MSCI Asia Pacific Index increased 8.2 percent this year to yesterday, compared with gains of 7.5 percent by the S&P 500 and 4.9 percent by the Stoxx Europe 600 Index. Stocks in the Asian benchmark are valued at 14.5 times estimated earnings on average, compared with 14.1 times for the S&P 500 and 11.9 times for the Stoxx 600.

Crude oil for January delivery surged 3.2 percent yesterday in New York to $83.86 a barrel, the biggest gain since July 22. The London Metal Exchange Index of prices for six industrial metals including copper and aluminum increased 1.4 percent yesterday after three consecutive declines.