SYDNEY, Feb 21 — Asian stocks rose, with the regional index rebounding from its steepest drop in two weeks, as the US dollar headed for its first weekly advance this month while Group of 20 finance chiefs meet. China’s yuan weakened, headed for its biggest weekly loss since 2011 in offshore trading.

The MSCI Asia Pacific Index gained 1 per cent by 10.52am in Tokyo, set for a second weekly advance. Japan’s Topix Index climbed 1.4 per cent, on track for the first weekly gain since the start of 2014. Standard & Poor’s 500 Index futures added 0.1 per cent after the gauge climbed 0.6 per cent in New York. The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index climbed a third day. The yuan fell 0.4 per cent in Hong Kong, while the ringgit appreciated 0.2 per cent against the greenback. Gold retreated 0.2 per cent.

G-20 finance ministers in Sydney this weekend are meeting to coordinate policies aimed at minimising volatility in money flows as the US Federal Reserve unwinds record stimulus, officials briefed on the matter said. Housing reports are due today in the US while the UK posts January retail sales data after mixed manufacturing reports yesterday saw equities tumble in Asia and Europe.

“The market will be supported if the G-20 meeting takes into account risks in developing nations,” said Isao Kubo, a Tokyo-based equity strategist at Nissay Asset Management Corp, which oversees about ¥6 trillion (US$59 billion.) “Plus, developing nations’ currencies have stopped falling, easing concern. Investors are holding their judgment on bad US data because they can be temporary. The US manufacturing report showed that the economy isn’t all bad.”

Japan’s Topix index has climbed 2.4 per cent this week, also poised for its first weekly advance since January. Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 Index added 0.6 per cent.

Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index increased 0.5 per cent and the Shanghai Composite Index retreated 0.8 per cent.

Kospi Index in Seoul rose 1 per cent, set for its steepest daily gain since Jan. 29. The MSCI Asia Pacific gauge is up 1.3 per cent this week.

Dollar rally

“There’s a nice platform for equity markets,” George Boubouras, who helps oversee US$30 billion as chief investment officer at Equity Trustees Ltd in Melbourne, said by phone. “You’ve got more synchronised growth. US growth is improving but there will still be on-going monetary policy support.”

The greenback headed for its biggest weekly advance this year against the yen as the Fed’s January-meeting minutes released this week signalled policy makers supported a continued decrease in bond purchases. Mixed economic reports in recent weeks saw the Bloomberg ECO US Surprise Index, which measures how much recent data has beaten or missed economists’ estimates, fall to minus 0.423 yesterday, the lowest level since September 2011.

G-20 outlook

The Fed Minutes showed policy makers remain intent on reducing stimulatory bond purchases in the absence of any “appreciable change” in the US economic outlook.

The global finance chiefs will use the talks in Sydney to recommend monetary policy is carefully calibrated and clearly communicated. The run-up to the meeting has been marked by criticism from developing countries that the Fed hasn’t paid enough attention to the international fallout from its decision to taper bond buying.

Emerging-market stocks and currencies fell since the pullback was announced in December as investors turned more risk averse and punished economies with flaws such as large current- account deficits or political discord.

Silver dropped 0.4 per cent to US$21.74 an ounce after rising yesterday in its 14th advance in 15 days. Gold lost 0.2 per cent to US$1,320.35 an ounce after snapping a two-day drop to climb 0.9 per cent yesterday. Gold is still rising for a third week, up 0.1 per cent, while silver has climbed 1.1 per cent.— Bloomberg