By Shiyin Chen and Akiko Ikeda Feb. 17 (Bloomberg) -- Asian stocks gained, sending the region’s benchmark index to a one-week high, while the won and commodities rose as improving earnings and U.S. economic data bolstered confidence in the global recovery. The MSCI Asia Pacific Index added 0.5 percent to 138.68 as of 3 p.m. in Tokyo. Futures on the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index slipped 0.1 percent after the gauge climbed to a 32-month high yesterday. South Korea’s won strengthened 0.3 percent against the dollar. The U.S. currency was near a one-week low against the euro. Rubber and cotton jumped to records and Brent crude oil traded above $104 a barrel. Higher profits at companies from Qantas Airways Ltd. and Neptune Orient Lines Ltd. to Santos Ltd. are adding to signs the rebound in the global economy is gaining momentum. Data due for publication today may show European consumer confidence improved, and that an index of U.S. leading indicators rose after the Federal Reserve said yesterday that the world’s largest economy is on a “firmer footing.” “Economic sentiment is improving and that is supporting the stock market,” said Mitsushige Akino, who oversees about $450 million in Tokyo at Ichiyoshi Investment Management Co. “Investors expecting stocks to rise further are increasing” because of positive economic data and strong corporate earnings. MSCI’s Asian Index was headed for its highest close since Feb. 8. Qantas Airways jumped 5.4 percent after Australia’s biggest airline said first-half profit more than quadrupled. Neptune Orient Lines, Asia’s second-largest container line, gained 2.4 percent after reporting fourth-quarter profit that topped analyst estimates. Middle East Santos, the Australian oil and gas producer that reported a 15 percent increase in 2010 profit, added 3.2 percent, pacing a rally among energy suppliers. GS Engineering & Construction Corp. dropped 3.7 percent, pacing declines among South Korean builders on concern Middle East tensions will disrupt projects. Crude oil for March delivery rose as much as 0.4 percent to $85.30 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, following a 0.8 percent advance yesterday. Brent crude for April settlement climbed 0.2 percent to $104 in London after a 2.1 percent jump yesterday. Countries in the Middle East and North Africa were responsible for 36 percent of global oil production and held 61 percent of proven reserves in 2009, according to BP Plc. Benchmark indexes in Jordan, Kuwait, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Tunisia, Abu Dhabi and Dubai fell more than 1 percent yesterday as police clashed with anti-regime protesters in Yemen and Libya. Bahraini police were firing teargas shells at anti-government protesters this morning after dispersing crowds overnight at the Pearl roundabout in the capital Manama. Egypt in Disarray Egypt’s financial markets remain in disarray six days after Hosni Mubarak resigned as president, ceding control to the military. The Egyptian Exchange, shut since Jan. 27 after the biggest stock selloff in more than two years, delayed opening for the fourth time yesterday while the central bank postponed 5.5 billion Egyptian pounds ($936 million) of bill sales. U.S. shares shrugged off concerns about worsening tensions in the Middle East, with the S&P 500 rallying 0.6 percent to the highest level since August 2008. In the minutes of Federal Open Market Committee meetings released yesterday, policy makers raised projections for economic growth this year even as they maintained their dissatisfaction with job growth. “Economies worldwide appear to be recovering firmly,” said Hideki Amikura, deputy general manager of foreign exchange in Tokyo at Nomura Trust & Banking Co., a unit of Japan’s largest brokerage. “There’s likely to be a mild bias to sell the yen and the dollar.” The dollar traded at $1.3571 per euro from $1.3569 in New York yesterday, after earlier declining to $1.3602, the weakest level since Feb. 11. The yen was at 113.42 per euro from 113.55 yesterday, when it fell to 113.64, the lowest since Jan. 28. Won, Yuan South Korea’s won traded at 1,117.40 against the dollar, after earlier climbing to 1,114.85, the strongest level in a week. The Philippine peso strengthened 0.4 percent to 43.405 per dollar. China’s yuan forwards rose for a fourth day as the central bank set the currency’s reference rate at the strongest level since 2005 before a meeting of finance ministers from the Group of 20 nations. Twelve-month non-deliverable forwards gained 0.14 percent to 6.4183. The People’s Bank of China set the daily fixing 0.08 percent stronger at 6.5800 per dollar. Australia’s currency traded at 83.82 yen from 83.95 yen yesterday, when it rose to 84.01, the strongest since May 13. The Markit iTraxx Australia index of credit-default swaps declined 2 basis points to 105 basis points, according to Nomura Holdings Inc. Swaps insuring the debt of the nation’s four biggest banks rose yesterday after Moody’s Investors Service said it may cut their ratings. Bond Yields Japan’s 10-year bonds yielded 1.33 percent, near a 10-month high, after the rally in the nation’s stocks. Yields on 10-year Treasuries were at 3.61 percent, as U.S. debt held losses from yesterday before a government report that economists said will show the cost of living climbed in January for a seventh month. Rubber rose as much as 3.8 percent to a record 530.6 yen a kilogram. Cotton for May delivery surged by the exchange limit of 7 cents, or 3.6 percent, to an all-time high of $2.0193 a pound in New York. Lead paced gains in metals, increasing 0.9 percent to $2,615 a metric ton on the London Metal Exchange. Zinc added 1.1 percent and copper increased 0.6 percent. --With assistance from Henry Sanderson and Sonja Cheung in Beijing, Ben Sharples in Melbourne, Ron Harui, Wes Goodman and Masaki Kondo in Singapore and Monami Yui and Nicholas Reynolds in Tokyo. Editor: Will McSheehy To contact the reporters on this story: Shiyin Chen in Singapore at schen37@bloomberg.net; Akiko Ikeda in Tokyo at iakiko@bloomberg.net. To contact the editor responsible for this story: Will McSheehy at wmcsheehy@bloomberg.net.

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