Asian Stocks Climb for 8th Day on Policy Hopes, Resource Prices

Jan. 5 (Bloomberg) -- Asian stocks rose, pushing the benchmark index to its longest gain since 2004, on optimism new initiatives will curb the global economic slowdown and as higher oil prices boosted the earnings prospects for energy companies.

The MSCI Asia Pacific Index rose 0.8 percent to 90.85 as of 9:15 a.m. in Tokyo, an eighth-consecutive gain and the longest winning streak since August 2004. About five shares advanced for each that retreated on the gauge.

“Government policies should support the market as investors try to come to grips with the worsening economic fundamentals,” Tomochika Kitaoka, a Tokyo-based strategist at Mizuho Securities Co., said in an interview with Bloomberg Television. “The yen’s depreciation is a tailwind for Japanese equities.”

Japan’s Nikkei 225 Stock Average surged 2.8 percent to 9,103.79. The nation’s markets were closed for the last four trading days due to the New Year’s holiday. Benchmark indexes in South Korea and Australia also climbed.