TOKYO, July 4 — Asian stocks outside Japan rose after better-than-estimated US jobs data added to signs that the world’s largest economy is recovering, boosting the earnings prospects for the region’s exporters.
CSL Ltd, the world’s second-biggest maker of blood-derived therapies that gets about 38 per cent of sales in the US, gained 1.6 per cent.
Woodside Petroleum Ltd, Australia’s No 2 energy producer, added 1.2 per cent as crude oil futures surged to a 14-month high. Tiremakers and steel producers led declines on Japan’s Topix index.
The MSCI Asia Pacific Excluding Japan Index advanced 0.5 per cent to 422.72 as of 9:20 a.m. in Tokyo, before markets in China and Hong Kong open.
US equities markets are shut today for the Independence Day holiday.
“Equities are still attractive,” said David Cassidy, Sydney-based head of equity strategy at UBS AG.
“While global economic growth is traveling below long-run trends, it is still positive and corporate earnings are still growing at a moderate pace.
Ultimately, a move to taper quantitative easing because of ongoing good news in relation to US growth shouldn’t worry equities.”
Japan’s Topix index slid 0.2 per cent. South Korea’s Kospi index gained 0.5 per cent and Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 Index climbed 1.1 per cent. New Zealand’s NZX 50 Index rose 0.2 per cent. – Bloomberg
