Jessi blog

Asian stocks advance as Japan growth surprises

TOKYO – Major Asian stock markets rose Monday with shares in Tokyo gaining after the economy grew for a fourth consecutive quarter and the yen weakened.

The Nikkei 225 stock average rose 69.30 points, or 0.7 percent, to 9,794.11 after the government said the economy expanded an annualized 3.9 percent in the July-September quarter. Stronger spending by consumers and businesses fueled the better-than-expected result.

Exporters benefited from the yen weakening against the dollar, with Sony Corp. up 1.5 percent and Canon Inc. gaining 0.5 percent.

Hong Kong's Hang Seng index rose 0.1 percent to 24,254.12, South Korea's Kospi added 0.2 percent to 1,917.66, and Australia's S&P/ASX 200 index climbed 0.4 percent to 4,711.10.

Decliners included benchmarks in mainland China, Singapore and Taiwan.

In New York on Friday, Dow Jones industrials lost 1 percent to close at 11,193 on worries that China might take new steps to cool its economy after inflation hit a 25-month high in October. Any slowdown in the Chinese economy would likely reduce demand for oil, metals and grains, which sent prices of those commodities lower.

Such concerns limited gains across Asia, as did jitters over European debt. All last week, investors dumped Irish and Portuguese bonds, heightening speculation that the countries might soon have to follow Greece in seeking an European Union bailout.

The sell-off puts added pressure on EU finance ministers, who will debate what to do about Ireland's woes when they meet in Brussels Tuesday and Wednesday, with Dublin denying it will ask for help from a temporary stabilization fund set up by its partners in the euro.

In currencies, the dollar rose to 82.55 yen from 82.51 yen late Friday in New York. The euro rose to $1.3707 from $1.3689.

Benchmark oil for December delivery was up 35 cents at $85.23 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The contract dropped $2.93, or 3.3 percent, to settle at $84.88 on Friday.