SINGAPORE, June 11 — Asian stocks rose, with the regional benchmark index trading at a one-year high, as consumer and health-care shares advanced.

The MSCI Asia Pacific Index added 0.1 per cent to 143.98 as of 9.05am in Tokyo. The measure rallied 11 per cent through yesterday from this year’s low in February amid signs of a stabilising economy in China and as authorities there eased bank collateral rules, while US data signalled a recovery is intact.

“There isn’t any news that can drive the market much higher,” Tim Schroeders, a portfolio manager who helps oversee US$1 billion (RM3.2 billion) in equities at Pengana Capital Ltd in Melbourne, said by phone. “The global economic outlook is still a worry. While the US economy is recovering, emerging economies are continuing to see a slowdown.”

Japan’s Topix index rose 0.2 per cent, while South Korea’s Kospi index lost 0.1 per cent. Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 Index added 0.1 per cent and New Zealand’s NZX 50 Index slipped 0.1 per cent. Markets in China and Hong Kong have yet to open.

The World Bank cut its global growth forecast amid a weaker outlook for the US, Russia and China. The Washington-based lender predicts the world economy will expand 2.8 per cent this year, compared with a January projection of 3.2 per cent. The US prediction was reduced to 2.1 per cent from 2.8 per cent, while estimates for Brazil, Russia, India and China were also lowered. The 2015 forecast for world economic growth was unchanged at 3.4 per cent.

Emerging index

MSCI Inc won’t include China’s locally traded shares in its emerging-markets index, while South Korea and Taiwan were removed from consideration for an upgrade to developed market status, the index provider said in a statement. MSCI, which based its decision on limitations to investing in China’s so-called A-shares, may consider an inclusion in 2015, it said.

Futures on the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index slipped 0.1 per cent. The US equity benchmark fell less than one point yesterday, halting a four-day streak of record-high closes, as investors weighed equity valuations.

Shares on the MSCI Asia Pacific Index traded at 13.2 times estimated earnings yesterday compared with a multiple of 16.5 for the S&P 500 and 15.6 for the Stoxx Europe 600 Index. — Bloomberg