Asian Equities Higher on Iron-Ore

Asian stocks climbed, led by commodity companies amid a rally in iron ore prices and as technology firms advanced with Nasdaq 100 Index futures. Malaysia’s ringgit strengthened as U.S. crude oil headed for a sixth straight weekly increase.

The MSCI Asia Pacific Index added 0.4 percent by 11:02 a.m. in Tokyo, rising a fourth day, as BHP Billiton Ltd. rose 2.6 percent and Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. increased 3.4 percent. Nasdaq 100 futures rose 0.3 percent following after-market gains in Google Inc. and Microsoft Corp. The ringgit climbed 0.7 percent against the dollar as U.S. crude headed for a 3.1 percent weekly climb.

Resources companies have helped lead gains in Asia this week after iron ore joined oil in rebounding from a more-than 50 percent slide in the past year. The Nasdaq Composite Index topped its dot-com era high Thursday as U.S. shares shrugged off mixed earnings and weak factory reports. Investors will weigh U.S. durable goods orders data Friday before next week’s Federal Reserve meeting.

Bloomberg

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