Asian Stocks Rally on ECB Negative Rate Option

Asian stocks rose for the first time in three days after U.S. jobless claims reached a five-year low and European Central Bank President Mario Draghi said policy makers have an open mind about a negative deposit rate. Copper led gains by industrial metals.

The MSCI Asia Pacific excluding Japan Index climbed 0.3 percent at 10:24 a.m. in Sydney. Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 Index advanced 0.7 percent. Futures on the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index were little changed, after the gauge closed at a record high. Japan’s markets are shut for a holiday. Copper rose 0.7 percent.

The unexpected drop in American jobless claims eased concern about the labor market before a government report today that is forecast to show the unemployment rate held at 7.6 percent. The ECB cut its benchmark interest rate to a record low and Draghi signaled another reduction is possible, a day after the Federal Reserve maintained its bond-buying plan and said it may make changes to the size of purchases if needed.

Bloomberg

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