Asian Stocks head for 4th day gain on fed rate optimism

Asian stocks rose, with the benchmark index on course to gain for a fourth day, as a slowdown in the U.S. retail sales fueled bets the Federal Reserve won't raise interest rates earlier then expected.

Telstra Corp., Australia's largest phone company, rose 1.5 percent after announcing a share buyback and posting annual profit above estimates. Fairfax Media Ltd., a newspaper publisher, jumped 6.2 percent in Sydney after profit beat estimates. NCsoft Corp., a maker of online games, advanced 6.6 percent in Seoul after reporting quarterly profit rose.

The MSCI Asia Pacific Index (MXAP) added 0.2 percent to 147.56 as of 9:23 a.m. in Tokyo after rising 2.2 percent the past three days. Nine of the gauge's 10 industry groups advanced today. A drop in China's credit expansion and an unexpected slowdown in investment spending added to speculation that policy makers will expand stimulus in the world's second biggest economy.

Even though the Fed is changing the way they talk about rates, we are still far away from seeing higher interest rates, said Donald Williams, Sydney-based chief investment officer at Platypus Asset Management Ltd., which oversees about $1.5 billion. As long as rates stay low, which could be still a couple of years, equities will remain well bid.

Futures on the Standard & Poor's 500 Index slipped less than 0.1 percent today after the measure rose 0.7 percent yesterday. Retail sales were little changed in July, the worst performance in six months, as demand for cars slowed and tepid wage growth restrained U.S. consumers. The slowdown in purchases followed a 0.2 percent advance in June, the Commerce Department reported yesterday in Washington.

Fed Chair Janet Yellen has said officials will keep the central bank's benchmark interest rate low for a "considerable time" after its bond buying ends.

Source: bloomberg.com