Japan’s currency climbed after the biggest weekly decline in a decade against the dollar, lifting oil prices. Asian stocks rose after the U.S. reported the lowest monthly job losses since the recession began. The yen strengthened against all 16 of its most-traded counterparts after the biggest weekly drop against the dollar since the period ended Feb. 19, 1999. Crude oil advanced from a seven-week low. The MSCI Asia Pacific Index rose 0.38 percent to 120.60 at 4:35 p.m. Tokyo time after rising as much as 0.63 percent. Stock index futures in Europe and the U.S. fell. Investors are favoring higher-yielding assets as the first global recession since World War II abates. Demand for workers increased in Australia, where advertisements for job vacancies jumped in November by the most since May 2007, and data released Dec. 4 showed the U.S. unemployment rate unexpectedly fell to 10 percent from a 26-year high. “Japanese and Australian exporters will benefit at the margin from a more robust U.S. economy and its perceived increased appetite for imports,” said Tim Schroeders, who helps manage $1.1 billion at Pengana Capital Ltd. in Melbourne. The yen strengthened for the first time in five days on speculation Japanese companies are bringing back overseas earnings. The currency gained at least 0.4 percent versus all 16 major counterparts, and 0.59 percent to 133.95 per euro. “Japanese firms . . . will repatriate the proceeds of overseas share offerings into yen over the next couple of weeks,” said Yuji Saito, head of the foreign-exchange group in Tokyo at Societe Generale SA. Dollar Reversal The dollar fell 0.72 percent to 89.84 yen, the first drop in a week, and declined to $1.4894 per euro from $1.4858 on Dec. 4 in New York. “Safe-haven flows that favored the dollar have been reversing,” the Basel, Switzerland-based Bank for International Settlements said in a report today. ”With risk on, equity prices rising and declining volatility, dollars are sold.” The U.S. currency surged 4.7 percent against the yen last week as employers cut the fewest jobs in November since the recession began. “Gains in the dollar may be limited as the employment report alone is unlikely to bring forward the timing of Federal Reserve rate hikes significantly,” said Akane Vallery Uchida, a currency strategist at Royal Bank of Scotland Group Plc in Tokyo. “The yen will probably weaken against the crosses this week amid firm risk sentiment.” Nikkei Rises Japan’s Nikkei 225 Stock Average climbed for a sixth day, adding 1.45 percent to 10,167.60. Japan Airlines Corp., Asia’s largest airline by sales, jumped 7 percent after the Yomiuri said the carrier may get a loan guarantee from the government. South Korea’s Kospi Index rose 0.5 percent as Samsung Electronics Co., the world’s largest maker of computer-memory chips, gained 1.2 percent. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index lost 0.35 percent. Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 Index dropped 0.55 percent. New Zealand’s NZX 50 Index slipped 0.25 percent. Futures on the Standard & Poor’s 500 stock index fell 0.3 percent. Futures on Europe’s Dow Jones Stoxx 50 Index fell 0.34 percent at 7:30 a.m. London time. Record-low interest rates and $12 trillion in spending by governments worldwide have spurred a 58 percent rally in the Stoxx 600 since March 9. Oil Higher Crude oil for January delivery rose for the first day in four, gaining as much as 63 cents, or 0.8 percent, to $76.10 a barrel in after-hours electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Global oil inventories are declining and prices are in “the right range,” Saudi Arabian Oil Minister Ali al-Naimi said Dec. 5. Crude has gained 70 percent this year. “We’re in the early stages of an economic recovery the shape of which is still unclear,” said Toby Hassall, research analyst with CWA Global Markets Pty in Sydney. It’s hard to see oil “moving too far away from where it is now until we start to see more clear evidence of where we’re going.” Copper, used for power transmission in homes and cars, increased as much as 0.4 percent to $7,070 a metric ton on the London Metal Exchange, and traded little changed at $7,040.50 at 2:05 p.m. Singapore time. Gold for immediate delivery traded 0.4 percent lower at $1,157.36 an ounce, after dropping 3.8 percent on Friday, the biggest one-day decline since January. Newcrest Mining Ltd., Australia’s biggest gold producer, tumbled 4.8 percent to A$36.45, the steepest drop in the MSCI index. Sumitomo Metal Mining Co., Japan’s biggest gold producer, lost 3 percent to 1,445 yen, the sharpest decline in the Nikkei 225. Zijin Mining Group Co., China’s biggest gold producer, sank 4.7 percent to HK$8.34 in Hong Kong. Won Falls South Korea’s won declined by the most in a week as the better-than-forecast U.S. employment data spurred bets the Federal Reserve will raise interest rates, eroding demand for higher-yielding currencies. The won fell 0.3 percent to 1,155.95, while the Malaysian ringgit slid 0.3 percent to 3.3925. Treasuries were little changed as the U.S. prepared to sell $74 billion in notes and bonds this week.

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