TOKYO (Bloomberg) -- Asian stocks rose for a fourth day, led by banks and carmakers, after the yen weakened to a five- month low and U.S. Federal Reserve Chairman Ben S. Bernanke said policies to unfreeze credit markets are working.

HSBC Holdings Plc, Europe’s biggest bank, climbed 4.3 percent in Hong Kong as the company raised about $17.7 billion from the U.K.’s largest ever rights offer. Panasonic Corp., the world’s No. 1 consumer electronics maker, jumped 2.3 percent after Nomura Holdings Inc. raised the shares to “buy.”
“The signs are that recovery will occur some time later this year, if not early next,” said Paul Xiradis, who manages the equivalent of $8 billion as chief executive officer of Ausbil Dexia Ltd. in Sydney. “I was looking for signposts and now we’re starting to get them.”
The MSCI Asia Pacific Index gained 0.6 percent to 87.24 as of 3:31 p.m. in Tokyo, paring its drop this year to 2.7 percent. The index has rallied 23 percent from a more than five-year low reached on March 9. A gain of more than 20 percent indicates stocks may have entered a bull market.
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index rose 3.4 percent, while Japan’s Nikkei 225 Stock Average added 1.2 percent. All markets advanced. China, Vietnam, the Philippines and Thailand are shut for public holidays.
Rising valuations
New World Development Co. climbed 9 percent in Hong Kong as the Standard newspaper reported a surge in the city’s real- estate transactions. Australia’s Bendigo & Adelaide Bank Ltd. plunged 8.2 percent after cutting its earnings forecast, while Surfwear maker Billabong International Ltd. dropped 5 percent in Sydney after UBS AG downgraded the stock.
Futures on the U.S. Standard & Poor’s 500 Index added 0.4 percent. The measure gained 1 percent on April 3, as the VIX index, an index of market volatility, fell below 40 for the first time since January, indicating traders are becoming more confident about the rally. Treasuries fell for a third day amid speculation the U.S. will sell debt as it tried to snap the recession.
“Relieving disruptions in credit markets and restoring the flow of credit to households and businesses are essential if we are to see, as I expect, the gradual resumption of sustainable economic growth,” Bernanke said in an April 3 speech in Charlotte, North Carolina. “So far the programs are having the intended effect.”
Rights offer
The London interbank offered rate, or Libor, that banks say they charge each other for three-month dollar loans fell on April 3 to the lowest level since Jan. 22. Australian bank interest rates and the cost to protect corporate bonds against default declined on Monday.
Finance companies accounted for 42 percent of the MSCI Asia Pacific’s advance on Monday. The shares are still the worst performers as a group on the MSCI gauge in the past 12 months as losses from the credit crisis swelled to $1.3 trillion.
HSBC gained 4.3 percent to HK$51.55 as investors bought 97 percent of its rights offer. The London-based bank said on March 2 that it would seek the money after its North American operation posted a 2007 pretax loss of $15.5 billion.
National Australia Bank Ltd., Australia’s largest by assets, rose 3.3 percent to A$23.60.
The MSCI World Index has rallied 23 percent in the past month amid signs government policies to stimulate the growth are taking effect. Orders placed with U.S. factories rose in February for the first time in seven months, an April 2 government report showed. The same day, mortgage lender Nationwide Building Society said U.K. house prices rose in March for the first time since October 2007.
Degree of relief
Group of 20 policy makers last week proposed measures to help restore economic growth through tougher oversight of hedge funds, credit-rating firms and derivatives trading, and by ramping up funding for the International Monetary Fund.
“We’ve had a good run recently as the intense bearishness has receded, but for markets to continue higher we’ll need to see some data confirming that stimulus measures are having an effect,” said Masaru Hamasaki, a strategist at Toyota Asset Management Co., which holds about $3.3 billion.
The four-week stock rally has boosted the average valuation of companies on the MSCI Asia Pacific Index to 18 times reported profit, the highest since Nov. 30, 2007, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.
Stocks gained on Monday even amid concern about North Korea’s weapons development, after the country defied the international community by launching a rocket that traveled over Japan. The Kospi Index gained 1.1 percent.
Brokerage upgrades
“The North’s missile threat is not even good gossipy news anymore in markets,” said Kim Yong Tae, a fund manager at Yurie Asset Management Inc. in Seoul, which holds the equivalent of $2.3 billion in assets. “Investors view yesterday’s launch as a step that lifts a small uncertainty.”
Japanese exporters climbed after the yen weakened to a five-month low against the dollar and the euro, as last week’s worldwide equities rally added to speculation that the global financial crisis is easing.
Panasonic jumped 2.3 percent to 1,242 yen. The shares were raised to “buy” from “neutral” by Nomura analyst Eiichi Katayama, who cited the focus of Panasonic’s management on profitable business segments. LG Display Co., the world’s second-largest maker of liquid-crystal displays, rose 3.3 percent to 31,300 won in Seoul after Citigroup Inc. raised its share-price estimate by 22 percent.
Biggest loser
In Hong Kong, New World Development, controlled by billionaire Cheng Yu-tung, jumped 9 percent after real-estate transactions rose the most since January 2008 at the weekend, the Standard newspaper reported, citing Midland Realty.
Sun Hung Kai Properties Ltd., Hong Kong’s No. 1 developer by market value, added 5 percent to HK$82.45, while Sino Land Co. jumped 5.8 percent to HK$9.67.
Bendigo & Adelaide Bank was the second-biggest loser on MSCI’s Asian index, plunging 8.2 percent to A$7.39. The regional lender cut its 2009 fiscal year earnings target, citing the global financial crisis and subsequent slowing of the domestic economy.