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Summary
Asian stocks rose, sending the MSCI Asia Pacific Index to a 2 1/2-year high for a second day, as increased oil and gold prices boosted commodities companies. The MSCI Asia Pacific Index rose 0.6 percent to 136.74 as of 4:27 p.m. in Tokyo, with almost three times as many stocks advancing as declining. The gauge has risen 13 percent this year to close yesterday at the highest level since July 2008 on speculation that corporate-profit growth will weather Europes debt crisis, Chinese steps to curb inflation and concern about the pace of the U.S. economic rebound. The indexs daily gain or loss has exceeded 1 percent only once in the past three weeks. Japans Nikkei 225 Stock Average climbed 0.5 percent. Hong Kongs Hang Seng Index jumped 1.3 percent and Chinas Shanghai Composite Index rose 0.7 percent. The Kospi Index gained 0.5 percent as South Korean companies went ex-dividend.
