Asian stocks rose, paring the first weekly drop in three months, while copper and the South Korean won gained as a majority of eligible Greek bondholders agreed to a debt restructuring and Chinese inflation slowed.

The MSCI Asia Pacific Index (MXAP) added 0.5 percent as of 10:42 a.m. in Tokyo. The Nikkei 225 Stock Average gained 1 percent. Standard & Poor’s 500 Index futures lost 0.2 percent before data that may show a smaller gain in U.S. jobs. The won strengthened 0.2 percent, climbing against all 16 major counterparts. Copper futures in London gained 0.5 percent.

 

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Pedestrians look at an electronic stock board outside a securities firm in Tokyo, Japan. Photographer: Haruyoshi Yamaguchi/Bloomberg

 

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March 9 (Bloomberg) -- Jason Brady, a managing director at Thornburg Investment Management Inc. in Santa Fe, New Mexico, talks about the outlook for U.S. stocks, the nation's economy and investment strategy. Brady also discusses Europe's debt crisis. He speaks with Susan Li on Bloomberg Television's "First Up." (Source: Bloomberg)

 

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March 9 (Bloomberg) -- Russ Koesterich, the San Francisco-based global chief investment strategist for the IShares unit of BlackRock Inc., talks about global stocks. Koesterich also discusses Europe's sovereign debt crisis and oil prices. He speaks with Susan Li on Bloomberg Television's "First Up." (Source: Bloomberg)

 

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Copper futures in London gained 0.5 percent. Photographer: Scott Eells/Bloomberg

Greece’s government got about 85 percent of bondholders to swap their holdings of the country’s debt for new securities in the biggest restructuring in history, a banking official said.China’s inflation slowed to 3.2 percent in February, the slowest pace in almost two years, the statistics bureau reported. U.S. employers probably added 210,000 jobs in February, economist forecasts show.

“People have got ammunition to be a bit more upbeat about investment markets,” said Angus Gluskie, who manages more than $350 million at White Funds Management in Sydney. “What we are likely to see today and overnight is a reminder for people that the Greek risk, at least for the moment, has been taken off the table and economic data is all heading in the right direction.”

Asian Stocks

The MSCI Asia gauge has fallen 1.3 percent in the past five days after rallying for a record 11 straight weeks. The valuationfor the equity benchmark reached 15 times estimated earnings in February, the highest level in almost two years, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 Index gained 0.3 percent, while South Korea’s Kospi Index (KOSPI)added 0.1 percent.

Qantas Airways Ltd. fell 2.9 percent. The Australian carrier and Malaysian Airline System Bhd. ended talks on a partnership and potential new carrier after failing to agree on commercial terms.

The S&P 500 (SPX) climbed to a one-week high yesterday. Applications for unemployment insurance increased to 362,000 last week, Labor Department figures showed. The U.S. stock- market gauge, which reached the highest level in almost four years, has rallied 24 percent from last year’s low in October and is up 8.6 percent in 2012 in its best start to a year since 1998.

Greek Finance Minister Evangelos Venizelos will hold a press conference at 1 p.m. Athens time today. Preliminary indications showed that as much as 155 billion euros ($205 billion) of the 177 billion euros of Greek-law bonds were offered, said the banker, who declined to be identified.

The goal of the exchange is to reduce the 206 billion euros of privately held Greek debt by 53.5 percent and tame the debt crisis that has roiled Europe for more than two years.

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