Asian Stocks Advance on U.S. Jobless Claims, BOJ Governor

Asian stocks rose, with the regional benchmark index poised to advance for a fourth week, after U.S. jobless claims unexpectedly dropped and Japan’s upper house confirmed Haruhiko Kuroda as central bank governor.

Honda Motor Co., a Japanese carmaker that gets 44 percent of sales from North America, gained 2.6 percent. Sony Corp. surged 11 percent in Tokyo after Daiwa Securities Group Inc. recommended buying shares of the consumer electronics maker. BYD Co., the Chinese automaker partially owned by Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway Inc., tumbled 7.8 percent as the company is said to be planning to sell as much as 20 percent of its Hong Kong-traded shares.