June 16 (Bloomberg) -- Asian stocks advanced the most in almost two months after the dollar rose to a four-month high against the yen and crude-oil prices declined, boosting shares of car and consumer electronics makers.

Toyota Motor Corp., which gets about half its profit from North America, climbed to the highest in more than three months in Tokyo. Samsung Electronics Co. rose on speculation consumer spending in the U.S., the world's largest economy, will be sustained. Korean Air Lines Co. jumped after South Korea allowed its two biggest carriers to increase fuel surcharges.

``I haven't been that pessimistic about company earnings,'' said Masaru Hamasaki, a senior strategist at Toyota Asset Management Co. in Tokyo, which manages the equivalent of $3.3 billion. ``With the yen weakening to this level, investors have started expecting companies can avoid a decline in profit this year.''

The MSCI Asia Pacific Index added 1.6 percent to 142.87 as of 8:02 p.m. in Tokyo, the largest gain since April 21. About four stocks advanced for each that retreated among 991 companies making up the benchmark, which rebounded from its largest weekly drop in 10 months.

Japan's Nikkei 225 Stock Average added 2.7 percent to 14,354.37. China's CSI 300 Index declined for a ninth day, closing almost 50 percent below its October record. Indexes advanced in other Asian markets open for trading, except for Australia, New Zealand, Indonesia, Sri Lanka and Pakistan.

Yen Weakness

Rio Tinto Group rose after Chief Executive Officer Tom Albanese said the company is worth more than the $165 billion rival BHP Billiton Ltd. offered because metals prices may rise for another decade. Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering Co. jumped after shipping newspaper TradeWinds said A.P. Moeller- Maersk A/S will spend $3.5 billion on new vessels.

Standard & Poor's 500 Index futures expiring in September were little changed recently. U.S. stocks climbed on June 13, paring the week's losses, after oil retreated and some measures of inflation matched economists' forecasts, damping speculation the Federal Reserve will boost interest rates this year.

Concern that central banks will raise borrowing costs to control inflation have helped drag MSCI's Asian index down by 9.5 percent this year.

Toyota advanced 2.9 percent to 5,650 yen, its highest close since Feb. 29. Canon Inc., the world's largest digital-camera maker, added 2.9 percent to 5,600 yen, while Nintendo Co., maker of the Wii game console, rose 3.1 percent to 59,300 yen.

The yen fell to 108.58 against the dollar today, the weakest since February, after U.S. Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson said a strong dollar ``is in our nation's interest.'' He was speaking to reporters after meeting counterparts from the Group of Eight nations in Japan on June 14.

Exports

``The exports picture is, of course, going to be helped by the weaker yen,'' Marshall Mays, director of Emerging Alpha Asset Management Ltd., said in an interview with Bloomberg Television in Hong Kong.

Meanwhile, crude oil for July delivery fell as much as 1 percent to $133.46 a barrel in New York today on speculation Saudi Arabia will increase production, reducing the risk to global growth from near-record energy prices. Futures lost 1.4 percent to $134.86 on June 13.

Samsung, Asia's largest maker of chips, flat panels and mobile phones, added 2.5 percent to 691,000 won. Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co., the world's biggest maker of customized chips, rose 1.7 percent to NT$65.90.

Rio, BHP

Korean Air surged 4.4 percent to 52,100 won after the government allowed the nation's two largest airlines to more than double a ceiling on surcharges on overseas flights. Korean Air, the No. 1 airline, and Asiana Airlines, the second-biggest, may be able to recover about 40 percent of additional jet fuel costs, which have more than doubled in the last 12 months.

Asiana Airlines gained 3 percent to 5,780 won.

Rio Tinto, the world's third-largest mining company, gained 1.3 percent to A$136.20. Albanese, who rejected BHP's Feb. 6 bid for failing to properly value the company's assets and prospects, said supply constraints and booming demand from emerging markets means higher metal prices are ``here to stay.''

The company is ``much, much more valuable'' than BHP's offer, the chief executive officer said. A measure of six metals traded on the London Metal Exchange added 0.7 percent on June 13, the biggest gain in a week.

BHP Billiton rose 1.3 percent to A$43.61. Mitsubishi Corp. jumped 4.6 percent to 3,630 yen. Korea Zinc Co., the world's second-largest zinc refiner, rallied 4.2 percent to 136,500 won.

Vessel Orders

Daewoo Shipbuilding jumped 3.1 percent to 40,400 won, snapping a six-day decline. Hyundai Heavy Industries Co. rose 0.8 percent to 334,500 won.

A.P. Moeller-Maersk, the owner of the world's biggest container line, will spend $3.5 billion on 34 new vessels, TradeWinds said. Hyundai Heavy, the world's biggest shipbuilder, will deliver 18 ships each costing $91 million, while Daewoo Shipbuilding, the third-largest, will supply 16 vessels, each for $115 million, according to the report.

In Pakistan, the Karachi Stock Exchange 100 Index dropped 3.8 percent for the region's largest loss. United Bank Ltd. led losses after Credit Suisse Group cut its rating on the stock, citing a central bank decree for lenders to pay a minimum 5 percent interest on saving deposits and a probable tightening in monetary policy.

United Bank, the nation's third-largest bank by assets, dropped 5 percent to 95.72 rupees. Habib Bank Ltd., which has the most branches among Pakistani banks, slipped 4.7 percent to 191.50 rupees. The shares were downgraded to ``neutral'' from ``outperform'' by Credit Suisse analyst Majid Munir.

To contact the reporter for this story: Chen Shiyin in Singapore at schen37@bloomberg.net; Masaki Kondo in Tokyo at mkondo3@bloomberg.net

Last Updated: June 16, 2008 07:17 EDT