Sony Corp. (6758), Japan’s biggest exporter of consumer electronics, gained 1 percent. James Hardie Industries SE (JHX), a building-materials supplier that gets almost 70 percent of sales from the U.S. rose 1.2 percent. Billiton Ltd., Australia’s top oil producer, climbed 0.3 percent after crude prices increased.

The MSCI Asia Pacific Index (MXAP) added 0.2 percent to 113.04 as of 9:52 a.m. in Tokyo. The measure has lost 0.5 percent this month and is set for an 18 percent drop this year. For the week, the gauge is down 0.6 percent.

“Investors increasingly feel the U.S. economy is firmer than they had expected,” said Toshiyuki Kanayama, a market analyst at Tokyo-based Monex Inc. “The economic data is looking good and that will boost stock markets, especially when concern about Europe’s debt issues aren’t in the forefront.”

Japan’s Nikkei 225 Stock Average (NKY) fell 0.3 percent. Trading volume was about half the 100-day average ahead of a four-day weekend. Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 added 0.3 percent. South Korea’s market is closed today for a holiday.

Futures on the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index (SPXL1) slid 0.1 percent today. The gauge advanced 1.1 percent yesterday in New York after a report showed a jump in pending sales of existing homes that exceeded economist estimates by almost five times.

Sony, James Hardie

Exporters to the U.S rose. Sony added 0.7 percent to 1,364 yen in Tokyo, while James Hardie Industries gained 1.3 percent to A$6.93 in Sydney.

Gains in stocks may be limited after Italy yesterday fell short of its target in a debt auction. Prime Minister Mario Monti said his government won’t “rule out” more aggressive efforts to reduce debt.

BHP Billiton (BHP) rose 0.3 percent to A$34.61 after crude oil for February delivery gained as much as 19 cents, 0.2 percent, to $99.84 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange amid potential supply disruptions by Iran around the Strait of Hormuz and on optimism about the U.S. economy.

The Asia Pacific gauge has lost about $1.78 trillion this year amid concern Europe’s three-year debt crisis will drag the global economy into recession. Stocks on Asia’s benchmark are valued at 12.8 times estimated earnings on average, compared with 12.6 times for the S&P 500 and 10.5 times for the Stoxx Europe 600 Index.

Utilities have lost 27 percent this year, dropping the most among the 10 industry groups on the Asian gauge. Japanese power producers tumbled amid a nuclear crisis at Tokyo Electric Power Co.’s Fukushima Dai-Ichi plant. Tepco, as the utility is known, has lost 92 percent this year, the biggest drop on the MSCI All Country World Index (MXWD).

To contact the reporters on this story: Yoshiaki Nohara in Tokyo at ynohara1@bloomberg.net; Norie Kuboyama in Tokyo at nkuboyama@bloomberg.net

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-12-30/asian-stocks-advance-on-signs-u-s-economy-is-weathering-europe-crisis.html

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