Asian Stocks Climb to Three-Week High as Health-Care Shares Gain
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Asian stocks climbed in light trading, with the regional benchmark index heading for a three-week high, as gains in health-care shares overshadowed losses in raw-material producers.
About two shares rose for each that fell on the MSCI Asia Pacific Index, which gained 0.4 percent to 131.80 as of 4:01 p.m. in Hong Kong. The gauge is poised to slide 4.4 percent this year for its first back-to-back losses since 2002 amid decelerating Chinese growth and a rout in commodities. The Shanghai Composite Index rose 0.9 percent, with trading volumes 30 percent below the 30-day average, after posting its biggest drop in a month on Monday as the nation’s industrial profits fell.