ASIAN stocks closed higher

Asian stocks rose for a fifth day, on course for the longest streak of gains in six weeks, amid low trading volumes as Hong Kong canceled trading due to a typhoon and earnings surged at Tata Steel Ltd.

The MSCI Asia Pacific Index rose 0.4% to 135.64 as all 10 industry groups climbed.

Japan’s Topix index rose 1.2%.

The Topix index has surged 36 percent this year, retaining its position as the world’s best-performing developed equity market, amid optimism Prime Minister Shinzo Abe will push through reforms while the Bank of Japan provides record stimulus to spur a recovery in Asia’s second-largest economy.

Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 Index closed little changed. New Zealand’s NZX 50 Index was little changed after the statistics office said retail sales accelerated last quarter.

Taiwan’s Taiex Index sank 0.4% and Singapore’s Straits Times Index gained 0.1%. South Korea’s Kospi index rose 0.6% after the country’s jobless rate remained unchanged in July for a third month.

India’s S&P BSE Sensex Index added 0.5%, led higher by Tata Steel, which rose 6% as it posted its best quarterly earnings in two years. 

Leighton Holdings Ltd. sank 6% after earnings missed estimates at Australia’s largest builder. 

Hokuetsu Kishu Paper Co. dropped 1.8% after Japan’s No. 3 paper maker by market value cut its profit forecast.

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