Asian stocks headed for the first advance in five days after a drop in U.S. new home sales fueled speculation the Federal Reserve may take new steps to spur growth, boosting demand for growth-sensitive shares.

Nikkei 225 8,443.1 +77.20 +0.92%

S&P/ASX 200 4,147.7 +23.75 +0.58%

Shanghai Composite 2,126 -10.15 -0.47%

Nomura Holdings Inc., Japan’s biggest brokerage by market value, advanced 5.7 percent, leading gains among financial firms, on a plan to name a new chief executive officer amid an insider-trading scandal.

Qantas Airways Ltd. rose 9.6 percent in Sydney on a report the carrier was close to forming a long-haul alliance.

Olympus Corp. jumped 9.6 percent after Terumo Corp., a Japanese medical device maker, proposed to invest 50 billion yen ($639 million) in the camera maker and merge with it.