TOKYO (Bloomberg) -- Asian stocks rose, sending the region’s benchmark index to a seven-week high, on speculation credit-market losses at banks may be winding down and earnings at machinery makers will climb.

National Australia Bank Ltd., the nation’s largest, jumped the most in a month after Citigroup Inc. posted a narrower loss than analysts’ most pessimistic estimates. Komatsu Ltd., the world’s No. 2 maker of construction machinery, was set for its highest close this year after rival Caterpillar Inc.’s profit beat estimates. Honda Motor Co. led automakers higher after the yen fell to the lowest in almost two months against the dollar.
“We have seen better-than-expected earnings from some of the larger companies and Citigroup’s results have helped to give a leg up to the market,” said Nicole Sze, a Singapore-based investment analyst at Bank Julius Baer & Co., which manages $350 billion in assets worldwide. “The market is more ready for good news than bad news.”
The MSCI Asia Pacific Index gained 2.6 percent to 148.13 as of 2:39 p.m. in Tokyo, set for the highest since Feb. 28. All 10 of the benchmark’s industry groups advanced. The index has rallied 12 percent from a two-month low on March 17 after JPMorgan Chase & Co. rescued Bear Stearns Cos. and the Federal Reserve cut borrowing costs to shore up confidence in the financial system.
Japan’s Nikkei 225 Stock Average added 1.4 percent to 13,670.13. Other Asian benchmarks rose, except for the Philippines, Vietnam and China. In the U.S., Standard & Poor’s 500 Index futures expiring in June climbed 0.1 percent.
Earnings boost
NEC Corp., Japan’s largest personal-computer maker, gained after reporting full-year profit that topped its own forecast. China Mobile Ltd., which has more users than the U.S. population, jumped on speculation the company will report higher profit on Monday.
Financial shares accounted for almost a third of the MSCI regional index’s advance. National Australia jumped 5.6 percent to A$29.28 in Sydney. Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group Inc., Japan’s second-largest publicly traded bank by market value, rallied 2.3 percent to 788,000 yen.
Citigroup reported a first-quarter net loss of $1.02 a share, less than the $1.66 loss predicted by Merrill Lynch & Co.’s Guy Moszkowski, Institutional Investor’s top-rated brokerage analyst. Revenue fell 48 percent to $13.2 billion, topping the average estimate of $11.1 billion from analysts surveyed by Bloomberg.
“Citi’s earnings confirmed that global financial companies have more or less completed disclosing their losses related to sub-prime mortgages,” said Hideo Arimura, who helps oversee the equivalent of $26 billion at Mizuho Asset Management Co. in Tokyo.
Komatsu, NEC
Komatsu added 6.1 percent to 2,965 yen in Tokyo, set for the highest since Dec. 28. Hitachi Construction Machinery Co., the world’s largest maker of giant excavators, advanced 5.1 percent to 2,915 yen. Kubota Corp., which manufactures mini excavators and tractors, surged 8.8 percent to 731 yen.
Caterpillar, the world’s biggest maker of earthmoving machinery, rose the most since 2000 in New York on April 18 after announcing first-quarter profit added 13 percent and reaffirming its forecast for gains of as much as 15 percent this year.
NEC gained 6.4 percent to 464 yen after saying full-year operating profit rose 15 percent more than its forecast.
Also in Hong Kong, China Mobile jumped 3.3 percent to HK$135.80. The phone company may report a 51 percent increase in first-quarter net profit, helped by new subscribers and tax changes, Citigroup Inc. analysts Michael Meng and Anand Ramachandran wrote in a report. China Mobile is expected to release its earnings after the close of trading on Monday.
Currency gains
Honda, which gets more than half its profit from North America, surged 6.5 percent to 3,260 yen, set for its highest close since Feb. 29. Toyota Motor Corp., Japan’s biggest automaker, rose 4.3 percent to 5,330 yen. It gets more than a third of its sales from North America.
The yen traded as low as 104.07 to the dollar in Tokyo, the weakest since Feb. 28. A weaker yen boosts the value of sales earned overseas when converted into the local currency.
Hyundai Motor Co., South Korea’s largest automaker, rose 4.7 percent to 84,800 won, the highest in almost 19 months, after Woori Investment & Securities Co. said the carmaker may post a record profit this year on premium-car sales and a weaker won.
Energy shares rose after crude oil rose above $117 a barrel for the first time in New York after the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries said it will maintain production, rejecting calls from the U.K. and Japan to boost output. Futures were recently at $116.63.
Woodside Petroleum Ltd., Australia’s No. 2 oil and gas explorer, advanced 2.1 percent to A$58.55, while Santos Ltd., the third-largest, jumped 6.2 percent to HK$16.75. Cnooc Ltd., China’s largest offshore oil explorer, climbed 3.6 percent to HK$14.02, set for its highest close since Jan. 11.
Citic Resources Holdings Ltd., a unit of China’s fourth- largest oil producer, rallied 14 percent to HK$3.19, the biggest advance on MSCI’s Asian index. Citic Resources said 2007 profit rose 41 percent as the nation’s demand for natural resources increased.