Asian stocks climbed, led by Japanese shares, amid speculation the nation’s government will study a corporate tax cut and advise public pension funds to hold more risky assets. The regional benchmark headed for the biggest monthly advance since January 2012.

Nikkei 225 14,799.12 +178.59 +1.22%

Hang Seng 23,120.34 -89.29 -0.38%

S&P/ASX 200 5,294.46 +18.52 +0.35%

Shanghai Composite 2,155.81 -42.71 -1.94%

Honda Motor Co. climbed 1.4 percent in Tokyo, recovering earlier declines, as the yen weakened against the dollar for the first time in five days.

Finsoft Corp. , a trading-software maker, surged 534 percent on its trading debut in Hong Kong.

Advantest Corp., which makes semiconductor testing devices, sank 3.2 percent after forecasting a loss.