Asian stocks rose, tracking an advance in U.S. equities, as Japanese shares gained after data showed the economy contracted less than expected.
The MSCI Asia-Pacific Index climbed 0.1 percent to 138.43 as of 9:01 a.m. in Tokyo after the measure sank 2 percent last week for a fourth weekly decline. The Topix index rose 0.3 percent as gross domestic product fell 1.6 percent on an annualized basis in the April-June quarter. Economists had been expecting a 1.8 percent drop. The People’s Bank of China raised the yuan’s reference rate Friday for the first time since devaluing it earlier in the week, arresting losses in the onshore-traded currency and fueling gains in the Hong Kong-traded yuan. The Standard & Poor’s 500 Index gained 0.4 percent.
“The situation surrounding the yuan has passed its peak and there’s a sense of calm,” said Hirotsugu Nagata, a member of the investment information department at Mizuho Securities Co. “The market’s attention now returns to the U.S. rate increase.”
China’s central bank soothed concern over the engineered depreciation Thursday, saying there’s no basis for persistent weakness in the yuan and that it will step in to curb large fluctuations. Asian currencies still capped their steepest weekly slide since 2011.
Korea’s Kospi index rose 0.2 percent on Monday. Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 Index gained 0.1 percent. New Zealand’s NZX 50 Index was up 0.3 percent. Markets in China and Hong Kong have yet to open.
Futures on Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index added 0.1 percent in most recent trading. Contracts on the FTSE China A50 Index of the mainland’s largest companies slipped 0.2 percent after the Shanghai Composite Index rose 5.9 percent last week.
Futures on the S&P 500 rose less than 0.1 percent. The underlying measure capped a 0.7 percent weekly gain on Friday, recovering after China’s devaluation sent the measure lower.