June 11 (Bloomberg) -- Asian stocks rose for the first time in three days after a report today showed Japan's economy grew at a faster pace than initially estimated and U.S. bond yields retreated.
Mizuho Financial Group Inc., Japan's second-largest bank, rose to a four-month high on expectations stronger growth will boost profits for domestic businesses. Sony Corp. and Samsung Electronics Co. tracked a rally in U.S. shares as speculation eased that the Federal Reserve will raise interest rates in the region's largest export market.
The gross domestic product report ``should be positive because it will relieve people's cautiousness toward the Japanese economy,'' said Soichiro Monji, who helps oversee about $47 billion at Daiwa SB Investments Ltd. in Tokyo. ``Investors regard banks as domestic demand-related. In this sense, stronger private consumption should favor the banking stocks.''
The Morgan Stanley Capital International Asia-Pacific Index climbed 0.5 percent to 151.23 as of 10:15 a.m. in Tokyo, ending a two-day, 1.8 percent loss. All 10 industry groups advanced.
Japan's Nikkei 225 Stock Average climbed 0.6 percent to 17,881.53. Shares also gained after the yen weakened the most in six weeks against the dollar on June 8, increasing the value of exporters' dollar-denominated sales.
Benchmarks in markets open for trading elsewhere gained, except for New Zealand and South Korea. Australia and the Philippines are closed today for holidays.
U.S. stocks rebounded on June 8, ending a three-day slump, after bond yields fell from the highest in five years and oil prices declined. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index added 1.1 percent, the best one-day gain since March 21.
Improving Sentiment
Mizuho gained 1.1 percent to 90,900 yen, the highest since Jan. 22. Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group Inc., Japan's largest bank, rose 2.2 percent to 1.42 million yen.
Japan's economy expanded at a 3.3 percent annualized rate in the three months ended in March, the Cabinet Office said. That exceeded the median forecast of 3.2 percent growth by 27 economists surveyed by Bloomberg News. The government's original estimate was for 2.4 percent growth.
``The revised GDP figure will improve investor sentiment even though many people had already expected the better numbers,'' said Seiichi Suzuki, a strategist at Tokai Tokyo Securities Co. in Tokyo. ``Growth is still being supported by capital spending, so companies linked to overseas demand and large domestic shares such as banks are attracting some buying.''
Rebound
Sony, the maker of the PlayStation game console and Vaio computer, added 1.5 percent to 6,690 yen, after losing 5 percent last week. Overseas sales accounted for 70 percent of Sony's income last year.
Shares plunged early last week after 10-year bond yields breached 5 percent for the first time since August, fueling speculation the Fed will raise interest rates. The yield declined on June 8 by almost 2 basis points, or 0.02 percent, after earlier rising to as high as 5.25 percent, its highest level since 2002.
The odds of an increase in the Fed's benchmark interest rate to 5.5 percent rose to as high as 40 percent last week, options on the fed funds rate showed, up from zero a month earlier.
Samsung, South Korea's largest exporter, rose 1.1 percent to 578,000 won. Venture Corp., Singapore's biggest publicly traded electronics maker for customers including Hewlett-Packard Co., gained 2 percent to S$15.70.
Toyota Motor Corp., the world's largest automaker by market value, climbed 0.8 percent to 7,530 yen. The company had 63 percent of its sales outside Japan last business year.
The yen fell 0.6 percent to 121.73 against the dollar on June 8 in New York. That was the biggest drop since April 26. A weaker yen increases the value of Japanese exporters' dollar- denominated sales when converted into local currency, while their products become more competitive abroad. Japan's currency recently changed hands at 121.68 to the dollar.
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