Asian Stocks Up, Oil Rebounds as Kiwi Slides

Asian stocks advanced as benchmark indexes traded near multi-year highs and a rebound in oil boosted energy producers. The New Zealand dollar declined after the nation’s central bank said it will keep rates at a record low for an extended period.

Benchmark indexes in New Zealand and South Korea led gains in the region, while the Nikkei 225 Stock Average approached the 20,000 level. Gold was steady after six days of declines, while oil extended a rebound from last week’s rout. Chinese shares resumed declines, with the Shanghai Composite heading for the lowest close since September 2016 amid scrutiny of regulatory intervention in the country’s financial markets.

Corporate earnings and positive data on the U.S. economy have buoyed sentiment about global growth. While profit reports have largely topped estimates, Toyota Motor Corp. dented optimism after forecasting a second straight annual decline in profit. New York Fed President William Dudley will give a speech in Mumbai, a chance for investors to assess future U.S. monetary policy after Dallas Fed President Robert Kaplan cast doubt on the pace of rate increases.

While the Reserve Bank of New Zealand kept its benchmark rate unchanged, the central bank said it will keep rates there for an extended period, saying inflation will slow. The bank projected that inflation will decelerate to 1.1 percent in the first quarter of 2018, and said a premature monetary tightening could undermine growth.

Here are the main moves in markets:

Stocks

· Japan’s Topix index rose 0.1 percent as of 1:59 p.m. in Tokyo. The Nikkei 225 Stock Average rose 0.3 percent to 19,967.15 as SoftBank Group Corp. boosted the gauge after posting results that topped analysts’ estimates.

· Hong Kong’s Hang Seng added 0.3 percent, gaining for a fourth straight day. The Shanghai Composite Index fell 0.4 percent, heading for a seventh decline in eight days.

· South Korea’s Kospi advanced 0.9 percent, erasing most of Wednesday’s declines following the presidential election. The gauge jumped 2.3 percent to a record on Monday.

· New Zealand’s S&P/NZX 50 jumped 1 percent to the highest level since September.

· Futures on the S&P 500 were little changed after the underlying gauge rose 0.1 percent Wednesday, closing at an all-time high. The Stoxx Europe 600 Index advanced 0.2 percent.

Currencies

· The yen was steady at 114.25 per dollar, after declining for nine of the past 10 days. The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index increased less than 0.1 percent, after Wednesday’s 0.1 percent decline.

· The kiwi fell 1.4 percent to 68.43 U.S. cents, for the biggest one-day decline of the year.

· The Canadian dollar dropped 0.6 percent after Moody’s Investors Service downgraded shares of six Canadian banks.

Bonds

· The yield on 10-year Treasury notes fell two basis points to 2.40 percent, after rising for the past three sessions.

· Yields on 10-year Australian government notes were little changed at 2.65 percent.

Commodities

· West Texas oil rose 0.6 percent to $47.60 a barrel after jumping 3.2 percent Wednesday. The rebound comes after a 6.3 percent slide last week.

· Gold added less than 0.1 percent to $1,219.53, following a six-day slide.


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