April 3 (Bloomberg) -- Asian stocks climbed, giving the regional benchmark index its fourth-straight weekly advance, as world leaders agreed on measures to fight the global recession.

Toyota Motor Corp. jumped 7.3 percent in Tokyo after obtaining loans from a Japan-owned bank to finance U.S. car sales. National Australia Bank Ltd. rose 6 percent on speculation U.S. accounting changes for banks will stimulate lending and ease the global credit crisis. Harbin Power Equipment Co., China’s No. 2 maker of electricity-generation equipment, advanced 3.3 percent in Hong Kong as a Chinese manufacturing index released yesterday signaled an expansion for the first time in six months.

“We’ve seen some tangible evidence that the global economy is on the path to recovery,” said Naoki Fujiwara, chief fund manager at Tokyo-based Shinkin Asset Management Co., which oversees about $6.1 billion. “This is all about sentiment and people are interpreting whatever they see in a positive way.”

The MSCI Asia Pacific Index gained 0.6 percent to 86.77 at 7:18 p.m. in Tokyo, taking its advance this week to 1.5 percent. The gauge has climbed 23 percent from a more than five-year low on March 9 amid speculation governments will succeed in easing the global financial crisis. A 20 percent gain is the technical level that indicates stocks may have entered a bull market.

Japan’s Nikkei 225 Stock Average added 0.3 percent to 8,749.84, cutting its decline this year to 1.4 percent.

Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 Index rose 1.5 percent. Markets advanced except in China, Indonesia and Malaysia. The MSCI World Index rose for a fourth week, having climbed 7.2 percent last month, the most since April 2003.

Accounting Standards

BHP Billiton Ltd. climbed 3.7 percent in Sydney even as oil pared its biggest advance in three weeks. Kawasaki Kisen Kaisha Ltd., Japan’s No. 3 shipping line, soared 9.7 percent as Goldman Sachs Group Inc. recommended investors buy the stock. Huabao International Holdings Ltd., a Hong Kong-based fragrance provider, slumped 17 percent as its chairwoman sold shares.

Futures on the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index were little changed before a report that economists predict will show the U.S. jobless rate rose in March to the highest level in 25 years. The S&P 500 climbed 2.9 percent yesterday as Group of 20 policy makers meeting in London pledged $750 billion to the International Monetary Fund to rescue recession-stricken nations.

The agency will also get another $250 billion in Special Drawing Rights, an overdraft facility for its 185 members.

The U.S.’s Financial Accounting Standards Board also agreed to relax fair-value, or mark-to-market, accounting that requires banks to revalue assets each quarter to reflect market prices. Writedowns and credit-related losses at financial institutions have swelled to $1.29 trillion since the start of 2007.

Banks Climb

Toyota, the world’s largest automaker, surged 7.3 percent to 3,700 yen. The company said its finance arm will borrow from the Japan Bank for International Cooperation as a freeze in credit markets made other debt options more expensive.

The automaker also rose after the yen earlier fell to 100.18 versus the dollar, a level not seen since Nov. 4. A weaker currency raises the value of exporters’ overseas sales.

Toyota gets 37 percent of its sales in North America. Canon Inc., the world’s largest maker of digital cameras, gained 2 percent to 3,070 yen. Panasonic Corp., the world’s biggest consumer-electronics maker, jumped 6.1 percent to 1,214 yen.

National Australia Bank, the nation’s largest by assets, surged 6 percent to A$22.84. KB Financial Group Inc., which controls South Korea’s largest lender, rose 2.7 percent to 37,800 won in Seoul. Mega Financial Holding Co., Taiwan’s third- largest listed financial services company, jumped 6.6 percent to NT$13.70.

Fast Rally

A measure of bank shares included in the MSCI Asia Pacific Index has rebounded 29 percent in the last month. The gauge is still down 24 percent in the last six months, the second-worst performer among the benchmark’s 10 industry groups.

The MSCI Asia Pacific’s surge in the past month has driven the average valuation of companies on the index to 17.7 times reported profit, the highest since Nov. 30, 2007, data compiled by Bloomberg show.

“There’s growing optimism that the world economy has reached a bottom,” Yoshinori Nagano, a senior strategist at Daiwa Asset Management Co., which oversees about $96 billion, said in an interview with Bloomberg Television. “We’ve seen a fairly fast rally lately, and people will likely start getting wary of its pace.”

The MSCI gauge has lost 40 percent in the past year as the deepening global recession threatened corporate earnings. World Bank President Robert Zoellick forecasts the global economy will contract 1.7 percent this year.

Manufacturing Growth

Harbin Power rose 3.3 percent to HK$5.66. Komatsu Ltd., a machinery maker that counts China as its fastest growing market, jumped 3.1 percent to 1,218 yen in Tokyo.

China’s Purchasing Manager’s Index, which was released yesterday, rose to a seasonally adjusted 52.4 in March from 49 in February, exceeding the threshold of 50 that divides expansion and contraction for the first time since September.

President Hu Jintao said before leaving for the G-20 meeting that his 4 trillion yuan ($585 billion) spending program had “begun to take effect.”

BHP rose 3.7 percent to A$34.60. Crude oil dropped 1.7 percent in after-hours trading, after soaring 8.8 percent to $52.64 a barrel in New York yesterday, the most since March 12. Copper rose 2.2 percent to the highest since Nov. 4 as the prospect of growth in China boosts demand for industrial metals.

‘Buy’ Recommendation

Rio Tinto Group, the world’s third-largest mining company, gained 4.2 percent to A$60.40.

Newcrest Mining Ltd., Australia’s largest gold producer, slumped 7.3 percent to A$30.79. Zijin Mining Group Co., China’s largest producer, dropped 6 percent to HK$5.37 in Hong Kong. Bullion rose 0.1 percent, following yesterday’s 2.5 percent retreat, as investors shifted into risky assets from the relative safety of gold.

Kawasaki Kisen advanced 9.7 percent to 363 yen, the steepest rally since Jan. 27. Goldman Sachs started coverage of the company with a “buy” recommendation, saying it was undervalued. Bigger rival Mitsui O.S.K. Lines Ltd. climbed 4.7 percent to 537 yen.

In January, Kawasaki Kisen more than halved its net income forecast for the year ended March 31 as slowing growth in China reduced demand for commodity shipping.

Huabao tumbled 17 percent to HK$5.78, the biggest slump since Feb. 17, 2004. Mogul Enterprises Ltd., owned by Huabao’s chairwoman Chu Lam Yiu, sought HK$797.6 million ($103 million) from selling shares in the company, according to an e-mail sent to investors by the transaction’s arranger Deutsche Bank AG.

To contact the reporter for this story: Patrick Rial in Tokyo at prial@bloomberg.net; Masaki Kondo in Tokyo at mkondo3@bloomberg.net.

Last Updated: April 3, 2009 06:19 EDT