Asian stocks rose 4.4 percent in the week to the highest level in a year as the Group of 20 nations agreed on measures to shore up the financial system and China reported better-than-expected economic data.

National Australia Bank Ltd. climbed 6.7 percent as G-20 finance chiefs agreed on a regulatory blueprint to help avoid a repeat of the global financial crisis. China Unicom (Hong Kong) Ltd. rallied 6.9 percent after China’s industrial production rose last month from a year earlier. Elpida Memory Inc. gained 8.6 percent in Tokyo after Texas Instruments Inc. lifted its forecasts, while Newcrest Mining Ltd. surged 7.4 percent in Sydney as gold rose above $1,000 an ounce.
“It’s clear there’s an ongoing commitment by the authorities to make sure this recovery works,” said Nader Naeimi, a Sydney-based strategist at AMP Capital Investors, which manages about $75 billion. “Together with the evidence of a recovery we’re already seeing, it points to a continuing improvement in the economic outlook.”
The MSCI Asia Pacific Index climbed 4.4 percent to 117.82 in the past five days, its seventh week of alternating between gains and losses. The gauge has surged 67 percent from a more than five-year low on March 9 on speculation the global economy is recovering.
---Industrial production
China’s Shanghai Composite Index rose 4.5 percent in the week as the statistics bureau said industrial production increased 12.3 percent in August from a year earlier, beating the 11.8 percent median estimate of 15 economists surveyed by Bloomberg News. Urban fixed-asset investment for the eight months to Aug. 31 climbed 33 percent, more than the 32.7 percent median estimate in a survey of economists.
Japan’s Nikkei 225 Stock Average advanced 2.5 percent, even as the Cabinet Office reported that the country’s economy grew at a 2.3 percent annual rate in the second quarter, lower than the 3.7 percent expansion originally estimated. Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 rose 3.6 percent, while the Hang Seng Index in Hong Kong advanced 4.2 percent.
“Investors are focusing on the relative cheapness of equities,” said Hiroichi Nishi, an equities manager at Tokyo- based Nikko Cordial Securities Inc.
National Australia Bank climbed 6.7 percent to A$29.04. The G-20 measures to shore up the financial system include forcing banks to curb leverage and raise the amount and quality of assets they keep in reserve once growth takes hold.
--------Quality assets
Rival Commonwealth Bank of Australia added 0.7 percent to A$47.60, while HSBC Holdings Plc, Europe’s largest lender, gained 3.1 percent to HK$84.60 in Hong Kong.
Greater-than-expected profit reports have helped fuel the MSCI Asia Pacific Index’s rally since March. Among the 642 companies on the gauge that reported quarterly net income in the past two months, 35 percent have beaten analyst estimates, while 21 percent have missed.
“There’s a lot of expectation priced in after the recent rally,” said Matt Riordan, who helps manage about $4.1 billion at Paradice Investment Management in Sydney. “Still, the economic data globally and earnings have tended to surprise on the upside.”
China Unicom rallied 6.9 percent to HK$11.48 in Hong Kong. Telefonica SA, Europe’s second-biggest phone company, will pay $1 billion to boost its stake in China’s second-biggest wireless carrier to 8.1 percent from 5.4 percent, the two companies announced in a joint statement.
Government spending
China Yurun Food Group Ltd., the country’s biggest hog processor, jumped 10 percent after first-half profit rose 37 percent and China’s Premier Wen Jiabao signaled that he will maintain unprecedented government spending to support the nation’s economic rebound.
Elpida, Japan’s largest computer memory maker, rose 8.6 percent to 1275 yen in Tokyo, after Texas Instruments, the second-largest U.S. chipmaker, said third-quarter profit will be as high as 41 cents per share, compared with analyst projections for 35 cents, on improving demand. Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co., the world’s largest custom-chipmaker, rose 4 percent to NT$62.40 in Taipei.
Newcrest Mining surged 7.4 percent to A$34.16 as gold futures punched through $1,000 an ounce for the first time in more than six months on Sept. 7. Zhaojin Mining Industry Co., a gold mining company based in China’s Shandong province, jumped 15 percent to HK$14.24.
Among stocks that fell this week, Lenovo Group Ltd. slid 5.7 percent to HK$3.46 in Hong Kong after shareholders TPG Inc., General Atlantic and Newbridge Asia sold shares in the company, according to sales document. Haseko Corp., one of Japan’s largest construction companies, tumbled 12 percent to 94 yen after saying it will issue convertible bonds, prompting Credit Suisse Group AG to cut the shares to “neutral” from “outperform.”
(Source: Bloomberg)