Asian Stocks Rise on U.S. Jobless Claims, BOJ; Nikkei Climbs

Asian stocks rose, driving the Nikkei 225 Stock Average to its shoesbiggest weekly gain this year, after U.S. jobless claims fell and the yen weakened on speculation the Bank of Japan will expand easingcheap shoes measures. Billabong International Ltd., a surfwear maker thatwholesale shoes gets 44 percent of its revenue from the Americas, climbed 3.6 percent in Sydney. Sony Corp., the maker of the PlayStation 3 game machine, rose 3.4 percent as a weaker yen boosted the outlook for export earnings. STX Pan Ocean Co. and Korea Line Corp., South Korea’s biggest bulk-shipping lines, advanced more than 6 nike shoespercent in Seoul after an index of freight rates rose the most since July. “There’s been quite an abundance of leading indicators pointing to an improving employment backdrop,” said Nader Naeimi, an investment strategist in Sydney at AMP Capital Investors, which oversees about $90 billion globally. “Jobs are key to the sustainability of the recovery. We also had a good reversal in the yen.” The MSCI Asia Pacific Index advanced 0.9 percent to 120.74 as cheap nike shoesof 3:59 p.m. in Tokyo. The measure climbed 2.3 percent the past five days, its second-straight weekly gain. The gauge has fallen 4.8 percent from a 17-month high on Jan. 15 on concern over budget deficits in Europe and speculation governments around the world will start withdrawing stimulus policies. Japan’s Nikkei 225 Stock Average climbed 2.2 percent after Nike Air Jordan 20the Nikkei newspaper said the Bank of Japan may further loosen monetary policy. Finance Minister Naoto Kan said he is aware of such media reports, though he hasn’t heard anything directly from the BOJ. The Nikkei average ended the week 2.4 percent higher, the most since the period through Dec. 25. Jobless Benefits Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index climbed 0.7 percent. Theair force 1 Low 07 Shanghai Composite Index rose 0.2 percent. It dropped 0.4 percent earlier as Premier Wen Jiabao pledged in a speech to the National People’s Congress to crack down on property speculation. South Korea’s Kospi Index advanced 1 percent and Taiwan’s Taiex gained 1.3 percent. Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 Index increased 0.4 percent. India’s Sensitive Index rose 0.1 percent. Futures on the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index rose 0.1 percent. The stock gauge advanced 0.4 percent yesterday after a Labor Department report showed claims for jobless benefits dropped in the week ended Feb. 27. Separately, Retail Metrics Inc., a research company, said total comparable-store sales climbed in February by the most in 27 months.Kobe Bryant Shoes Lebron James shoes Kevin Garnett shoes Paul Pierce Shoes Tim Duncan Shoes Tracy McGrady shoes Jason Frederick Kidd Shoes