Asian Stocks Climb After U.S. Unemployment Report; James Hardie Advances

Asian stocks rose, sending the MSCI Asia Pacific Index to its second weekly advance this month, after U.S. claims for unemployment benefits unexpectedly dropped, boosting confidence the world’s biggest economy is recovering.

James Hardie Industries SE, the biggest seller of home siding in the U.S., gained 1.2 percent in Sydney. Samsung Electronics Co., which gets about 22 percent of sales from America, rose 0.6 percent in Seoul. Mizuho Financial Group Inc., Japan’s third-biggest bank by market value, climbed 1.3 percent after Nomura Holdings Inc. boosted its investment rating.

“We’re seeing the global economy is gradually recovering,” said Hiroichi Nishi, an equities manager in Tokyo at Nikko Cordial Securities Inc.

The MSCI Asia Pacific Index rose 0.3 percent to 133.72 as of 9:25 a.m. in Tokyo, with five stocks advancing for every four that declined. The gauge is headed for a 0.5 percent gain this week. It climbed to a 2 1/2-year high three days ago as U.S. economic reports boosted confidence in a global recovery, easing concerns that Europe’s debt crisis and China’s measures to slow inflation will hurt growth.

Japan’s Nikkei 225 Stock Average was little changed, South Korea’s Kospi Index climbed 0.3 percent and Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 Index fell 0.2 percent.

Futures on the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index were little changed today. The index rose 0.6 percent yesterday to 1,242.87, its highest close since September 2008, when Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. collapsed.

U.S. Unemployment

The number of U.S. workers filing first-time claims for unemployment benefits decreased last week to 420,000, the lowest level in three weeks, Labor Department figures showed yesterday. Economists in a Bloomberg survey projected an increase to 425,000, according to the median of estimates.

The MSCI Asia Pacific Index increased 11 percent through yesterday in 2010, compared with gains of 11 percent by the S&P 500 and 9.3 percent by the Stoxx Europe 600 Index. Stocks in the Asian benchmark were valued at 14.7 times estimated earnings on average at yesterday’s close, compared with 14.6 times for the S&P 500 and 12.3 times for the Stoxx 600.

Crude oil for January delivery lost 1 percent to $87.70 a barrel in New York yesterday, the lowest settlement since Dec. 1. The London Metal Exchange Index of prices for six industrial metals including copper and aluminum dropped 0.7 percent yesterday, a third consecutive decline.

Moody’s Investors Service said yesterday it placed Greece’s Ba1 bond ratings on review for a possible downgrade, citing heightened concerns about whether the country will be able to reduce its debt to “sustainable levels.”

“Worries about fiscal problems in Europe will continue,” Nikko Cordial’s Nishi said. “It’s not the kind of issue that can be resolved in a day or two.”