Overnight Markets: Asian indices rise on higher commodity prices

Asian markets advanced on Monday, led by telecom firms and commodity producers, after KDDI Corp. declared a stock buyback and raw-material prices surged.

The MSCI Asia Pacific Index gained 0.4% to 130 as of 9:46 a.m. in Tokyo. The S&P/ASX 200 Index climbed 0.9% in Australia. Japan’s Nikkei 225 Stock Average increased 0.2%, even as the country’s exports grew at the slowest pace this year in September. South Korea’s Kospi Index gained 0.3%. Shanghai Composite Index was up 0.1% at 2,977.

KDDI, Japan’s second-largest mobile-phone operator, climbed 7.9% after announcing it will spend as much as 100 billion yen ($1.2 billion) on its buyback. Rio Tinto Group moved up 1.2% in Sydney. Woodside Petroleum Ltd. gained 0.9%.

In the US and Europe, investors will face a blizzard of earnings this week with as much as 177 S&P 500 companies - including Exxon, Chevron and Microsoft - due to report their balance sheets. Many analysts believe earnings will continue to support the market rally.

Investors’ hopes that the Federal Reserve will take more steps to stimulate the economy will also support the market. The Fed is expected to disclose its initial commitment under QE2 at its 2-3 November meeting.

Moreover, further direction will be provided by third-quarter growth data from the US and UK this week. The US gross domestic product figures out Friday is expected to show growth accelerated to an annualised level of 2.2%, from 1.7% in the second quarter.

In the UK, GDP for the third quarter is expected to have risen to an annual 2.4%, from 1.7% in the previous three months.

Elsewhere, unemployment figures from Japan and Germany are expected to reflect stagnation of labour markets in both nations. Meanwhile, Japanese industrial production is likely to have declined 0.7% month on month last month.