Asian Stocks Rise, Snapping 4-Day Decline; HSBC, Fortescue Gain

Nov. 21 (Bloomberg) -- Asian stocks and U.S. futures rose on speculation governments will step up efforts to revive economies and the Wall Street Journal reported Citigroup Inc. may be sold.

``The best stimulus out there is for governments to spend,'' said Jonathan Ravelas, a Manila-based strategist at Banco de Oro Unibank Inc., which manages more than $6 billion. A Citigroup merger would ``avert a collapse, which the financial system and investors wouldn't want to hear at this stage.''

The MSCI Asia Pacific Index added 3.2 percent to 77.57 at 3:21 p.m. in Tokyo, erasing a 2.3 percent retreat. Finance companies were the biggest contributor to the gain. Today's advance pared the weekly retreat to 7.5 percent.