Asian Stocks Advance as Regional Holidays Curb Trading Volume

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Asian stocks rose, with trading volume curbed by holidays in Japan, Hong Kong and South Korea. Genting Singapore Plc and Australia��s Leighton Holdings Ltd. climbed after reporting earnings.

The MSCI Asia Pacific excluding Japan Index advanced 0.1 percent to 474.94 at 11:31 a.m. in Sydney, with eight of the 10 industry groups on the gauge rising. Futures on the Standard & Poor��s 500 Index added 0.2 percent.

Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen is due to testify to lawmakers May 7 after the U.S. central bank pressed ahead April 30 with reductions to its monthly bond-buying, while holding its short-term interest-rate target at near zero.

Australia��s S&P/ASX 200 Index added 0.3 percent today ahead of a central-bank decision on interest rates. Volume was 27 percent below its 30-day average. The Reserve Bank of Australia will keep its benchmark interest rate at a record-low 2.5 percent today, according to all 33 economists surveyed by Bloomberg.

Source : Bloomberg