Dec. 1 (Bloomberg) -- The Nikkei 225 Stock Average closed above 15,000 for the first time in five years, leading gains in Asian stocks, after a Japanese government report showed overseas investors are adding to their equity holdings. Canon Inc. rose.

``The Japanese economy is getting better and better all the time and that's why international investors have favored Japanese stocks,'' said Masaki Iso, who oversees $6.7 billion as head of Japanese equities at Yasuda Asset Management Co. in Tokyo.

The Nikkei climbed 1.7 percent to 15,130.50 in Tokyo. That's the highest since Dec. 13, 2000. The Topix Index added 1.5 percent, its highest close in more than five years, with all except one of the 33 industry groups advancing.

The Morgan Stanley Capital International Asia-Pacific Index added 0.7 percent to 115.53 at 7:10 p.m. in Tokyo. South Korea's Kospi index closed at a record high for a second day, while India's Sensitive index climbed 1.8 percent, Asia's biggest advance. Indexes also rose in Hong Kong, Singapore and Pakistan. They fell elsewhere.

Materials stocks including BHP Billiton and Nippon Mining Holdings Inc. slid on concern the Federal Reserve will keep raising interest rates after a report showed the U.S. economy expanded more than forecast last quarter. Australia's S&P/ASX 200 Index lost 1.2 percent, the region's worst performer.

Overseas investors bought 134.3 billion yen ($1.1 billion) more Japanese shares than they sold last week, extending the buying spree by international money managers to a ninth week, figures from the Ministry of Finance showed today.

Canon, Mitsubishi UFJ

Canon, the world's largest seller of digital cameras, gained 2.2 percent to 6,860 yen. Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group Inc., the world's largest bank by assets, added 2.7 percent to 1.55 million yen. Takeda Pharmaceutical Co., Japan's largest drugmaker, gained 3 percent to 6,780 yen.

The Nikkei has gained 32 percent this year, while the Topix has advanced 36 percent. The nation's stock market has become a favorite among overseas investors as the economic recovery in Japan has become more sustainable.

Sixty-six percent of global money managers in a Merrill Lynch & Co. survey last month said they have an ``overweight'' position in Japanese stocks, the highest among the world's five regions for the third straight month.

Takeda paced gains in the MSCI Asia-Pacific Health Care Index, which measures 39 drugmakers in the region. The measure rose 2.1 percent today, the biggest advance among the 10 industry groups that make up the regional index.

Among other pharmaceutical companies, Shionogi & Co. jumped 6.4 percent to 1,566 yen. KBC Securities Co. raised its rating of the company to a ``buy'' from the previous ``hold'' because the brokerage forecasts an increase in sales of the company's Crestor cholesterol reducer.

BHP, Rio

BHP, the world's biggest mining company, slid 1.7 percent to A$21.50. Rio Tinto Group, the third biggest, lost 2.2 percent to A$60.40. Rio gets about two-fifths of its sales in North America, according to Bloomberg data. Nippon Mining Co., Japan's biggest copper producer, declined 1.3 percent to 776 yen.

The U.S. economy, the world's largest, expanded at an annual rate of 4.3 percent in the third quarter, the U.S. Commerce Department said. That was the quickest since the first quarter of last year and exceeded the 4 percent forecast by economists.

Consumer spending expanded at a 4.2 percent annual pace last quarter, compared with 3.4 percent in the second quarter, U.S. figures also said, while a regional survey of businesses by the 12 Federal Reserve district banks, known as the beige book, reinforced the idea the central bank may have to continue increasing rates.

The Fed has raised its benchmark interest rate by a quarter point 12 consecutive times starting June last year to try and tame inflation and slow economic growth in the U.S.

`Diminished'

``Mining shares face a number of issues, including rising borrowing costs and a potential slowing of demand from the U.S. in particular,'' said Angus Gluskie, who manages the equivalent of $222 million at White Funds Management in Sydney. ``Their scope to raise prices will be diminished.''

In South Korea, the Kospi added 0.7 percent to its first close above 1300 after a report showed the country's exports rose to a record last month.

Shipments climbed 13 percent in November from a year earlier to $26.1 billion, the Commerce Ministry said today. That matches the median forecast in a Bloomberg News survey of seven economists and compares with a 12.5 percent increase in October.

LG Electronics Inc., the world's second-largest plasma display maker, jumped 3.3 percent to 81,200 won. Hynix Semiconductor Inc., the world's second-largest maker of computer memory chips, rose 3.2 percent to 22,600 won.

``Positive macro indexes, such as the strong export figures and stable inflation, are having a positive effect on the stock market,'' said Kim Jun Ki, who helps manage about $1 billion at Hanwha Investment Trust Management Co. in Seoul. ``It shows that the market has more room to rise.''

Biggest Mover

Mitsubishi Gas Chemical Co., the world's third-largest methanol maker, surged 9 percent to 1,070 yen, the biggest percentage mover in the MSCI World Index during Asian trading.

Mitsubishi Gas and Itochu Corp. agreed with Brunei National Petroleum Company to build a methanol plant to tap the country's gas reserves. The plant will produce 850,000 metric tons a year of methanol, according to the agreement signed on Nov. 21, Mohammad Reduan, Brunei National Petroleum's acting chief executive, said yesterday in Manila. Output will begin in 2008, he said.

Shares of Itochu fell 0.4 percent to 901 yen.

Canon Inc. (7751 JT)
BHP Billiton (BHP AU)
Hynix Semiconductor Inc. (000660 KS)
Itochu Corp. (8001 JT)
LG Electronics Inc. (066570 KS)
Mitsubishi Gas Chemical Co. (4182 JT)
Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group Inc. (8306 JT)
Nippon Mining Holdings Inc. (5016 JT)
Rio Tinto Group (RIO AU)
Shionogi & Co. (4507 JT)
Takeda Pharmaceutical Co. (4502 JT)

To contact the reporter for this story: Chen Shiyin in Singapore at schen37@bloomberg.net; Michael Tsang in Tokyo at mtsang1@bloomberg.net.

Last Updated: December 1, 2005 05:13 EST