HONG KONG, Oct 16 — Asian stocks followed US shares higher, with the regional benchmark index heading for a third straight weekly advance, as technology and financial companies led gains.

The MSCI Asia Pacific Index added 0.4 per cent to 134.53 as of 9:01am in Tokyo.

The measure is heading for a 0.9 per cent increase this week. Global equities resumed their October rebound, with US stocks rising to an eight-week high amid bank earnings and mounting speculation the Federal Reserve will put off raising interest rates until 2016.

Investors don’t see better-than-even odds of rates increasing until March next year, with a 30 per cent chance of liftoff by December.

“The Fed probably won’t move rates yet and that could help support the share markets,” Tony Farnham, a Sydney-based strategist at Patersons Securities, said by phone.

“While the global economy isn’t taking off as people would like it to, it’s not as if we’re falling into a deep abyss. There are some spots in the global economy that are not so dire.”

Japan’s Topix index climbed 0.8 per cent. South Korea’s Kospi index added 0.2 per cent. New Zealand’s S&P/NZX 50 Index rose 0.6 per cent.

Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 Index gained 1.1 per cent. Markets in China and Hong Kong have yet to start trading.

The Shanghai Composite Index rose 2.3 per cent to the highest close since August 21 yesterday as a government move to reorganize the telecom industry raised speculation policy makers will accelerate reforms of state-owned companies to stem slowing economic growth.

FTSE China A50 Index futures climbed 1.2 per cent in most recent trading, while contracts on the Hang Seng China Enterprises Index slipped 0.1 per cent in Hong Kong.

New Loans

China’s broadest measure of new credit exceeded estimates in September, suggesting the government’s efforts to boost lending are gaining traction.

Aggregate financing rose to 1.3 trillion yuan (RM842.56 billion), from an originally reported 1.08 trillion yuan in August, according to a report from the People’s Bank of China.

That exceeded the median estimate for 1.2 trillion yuan in a survey of economists.

E-mini futures on the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index rose 0.1 per cent.

The underlying gauge jumped 1.5 per cent yesterday to its highest close since August 20 as bank shares rebounded amid Citigroup Inc’s better-than-estimated results. — Bloomberg