Asian stocks rise as hopes of deal grow

Asian stock markets posted gains today on optimism over a pair of positive US economic reports and growing expectations that Washington will resolve a budget impasse before the end of the year.

Meanwhile, the release of an 880.3 billion yen (€8.2bn) stimulus package by the Japanese government helped boost the Nikkei 225 index in Tokyo. The benchmark rose 0.8% to 9,480.26 in early trading.

Hong Kong’s Hang Seng added 0.7% to 22,059.10 and Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 advanced 0.8% to 4,512.90. South Korea’s Kospi was nearly unchanged at 1,934.73. Benchmarks in Taiwan, Singapore and New Zealand also rose.

Investment sentiment was boosted by signs of improvement in the world’s top economy.

The US Commerce Department raised its estimate of third-quarter growth to an annual rate of 2.7% – much better than the 2% rate estimated a month ago.