ASIA STOCKS closed week higher

Asian stocks rose, with the regional benchmark gauge heading for its biggest weekly increase in almost a year. Yahoo Japan Corp. plunged after agreeing to buy assets from parent SoftBank Corp.

The MSCI Asia Pacific Index advanced 0.7% to 137.00 in Tokyo, reversing earlier losses. The measure has gained 3.2% since March 21. Chinese shares in Hong Kong are poised for a 6.4% surge this week, which would be their biggest weekly increase since November. Japan’s Topix (TPX) index climbed 3.5% on the week, the best such rally in four months.

Today’s rally pared the MSCI Asia gauge’s loss this year to 3.1%. Chinese Premier Li Keqiang said the country has policies in reserve to deal with any economic volatility this year and can’t ignore “difficulties and risks” from a slowdown, according to a central-government website statement.

Japan’s Topix index rose 0.8% today after falling as much as 0.7%. The nation’s consumer price index excluding perishables and energy rose 0.8%, the most since 1998, a report showed. Household spending fell 2.5% in February from a year earlier, the first drop in six months, compared to the median estimate of economists for a 0.1% rise.

South Korea’s Kospi index gained 0.2%, while Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 Index and New Zealand’s NZX 50 Index added 0.3%. Taiwan’s Taiex Index slid 0.1%, and Singapore’s Straits Times Index gained 0.4%.

Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index advanced 1.2%. Tencent contributed the most to the measure’s advance, rising 2.5%. The Hang Seng China Enterprises Index of mainland shares traded in the city jumped 1.6% and the Shanghai Composite Index fell 0.2%.

Weaker economic data from China is fueling optimism the government will act to stabilize growth. Reports this week showed a drop in profit growth for industrial companies, while a private gauge of manufacturing in the world’s second-largest economy signaled a third month of contraction for the sector, with the index declining more than economists had estimated.

Brilliance China Automotive Holdings Ltd. soared 7.5% in Hong Kong after full-year net income rose 47%. 

Tencent Holdings Ltd. added 2.5% to advance the first time in four days. 

Yahoo Japan slumped 6.4% after agreeing to buy eAccess Ltd. for 324 billion yen ($3.2 billion) from SoftBank, which fell 1.5%.

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