Asian stocks rose, driving the MSCI Asia Pacific Index to its biggest weekly advance in a month, as memory chip prices climbed, gold traded at a record for a third day and US jobless claims dropped.
Samsung Electronics, the world's largest maker of computer-memory chips, climbed 2.8 per cent after a gauge of chip prices rose to a 16-month high. Nintendo gained 6.9 per cent after Citigroup upgraded the stock. Promise, a Japanese consumer lender, surged 13 per cent after Nikkei English News said the company may promote an executive to strengthen ties with its largest shareholder.
The MSCI Asia Pacific Index gained 0.3 per cent to 118.95 in Tokyo, having swung between gains and losses at least 10 times. The index climbed 3.8 per cent this week as signs of growth prompted Australia to raise interest rates and a report showed U.S. service industries expanded.
"We're all hoping the global recession is winding to a close," said Rob Patterson, who helps manage $3.4 billion at Argo Investments Ltd. in Adelaide. "Certainly, the economic indicators are getting less worse. But I don't imagine the US will be raising rates any time soon."
