TOKYO, Aug 2 — Asian stocks rose, paring the regional benchmark index’s first weekly drop since June, as global manufacturing reports beat forecasts and central banks vowed to maintain stimulus.

The MSCI Asia Pacific Index advanced 0.3 to 133.90 as of 9:01am Tokyo time, before markets in China and Hong Kong start trading. The gauge is heading for a 1.2 per cent decline this week. Futures on the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index rose 0.1 per cent. Japan’s Topix index jumped for a second day, adding 1.2 per cent.

Factory output from the US to China and Europe expanded in July, reports yesterday showed, while American jobless claims fell to a five-year low. The data came as European Central Bank President Mario Draghi said interest rates will probably remain low for an extended period and after the Federal Reserve retained its US$85 billion (RM276 billion) a month bond buying programme.

“The bulls have regained control,” Matthew Sherwood, head of investment markets research in Sydney at Perpetual Investments, which manages about US$25 billion, said in an e-mail. “Fears eased about the global economy and reassuring comments from central banks confirmed that the money glut will continue.”

The MSCI Asia Pacific Index advanced 1.3 per cent last month after China pledged to do more to support a transition from reliance on exports to domestic demand in the world’s second- largest economy. Shares on the gauge traded at 13 times estimated earnings as of yesterday, compared with 15.5 times for the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index and 13.7 times for the Stoxx Europe 600 Index.

Hong Kong

Japan’s Topix index climbed 35 per cent this year through yesterday amid optimism Prime Minister Shinzo Abe will push through reforms while the Bank of Japan continues record stimulus to beat deflation.

Futures on Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index rose 0.7 per cent. The measure fell 2.5 per cent this year through yesterday, the worst performance among developed markets tracked by Bloomberg. Futures on the Hang Seng China Enterprises Index of mainland companies gained 1 per cent. The Bloomberg China-US Equity Index of the most-traded Chinese shares in New York climbed 2.3 per cent yesterday, closing at the highest level since May 21.

China’s non-manufacturing purchasing managers’ index is scheduled to be released tomorrow, after the manufacturing gauge unexpectedly strengthened in July, data yesterday showed. Indonesian economic growth probably slackened to 5.9 per cent in the second quarter, according to a survey of economists before figures are released today.

US stocks

The S&P 500 Index rose 1.3 per cent yesterday, sending the gauge above 1,700 for the first time as a report showed applications for unemployment insurance payments declined by 19,000 to 326,000 in the week ended July 27, the fewest since January 2008, from a revised 345,000 the prior week.

The Institute for Supply Management’s US factory index increased to 55.4, the strongest since June 2011, from 50.9 in the prior month. Readings above 50 indicate expansion. Labour Department data today may show US employers added 185,000 people to payrolls in July, as the jobless rate fell to 7.5 per cent from 7.6 per cent, according to Bloomberg surveys of more than 80 economists.

Manufacturing growth in the U.K. accelerated in July, while a factory gauge for the euro-area resumed growth after two years of contraction, separate reports released yesterday showed.

Of the 256 companies on the MSCI Asia Pacific Index that have posted results since July 1 and for which estimates are available, 51 per cent exceeded estimates, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. More than 90 companies on the gauge are posting results this month. Mitsubishi Corp. and Toyota Motor Corp. are scheduled to report today. — Bloomberg