Asian stocks rose, with the regional benchmark index poised to advance for a fourth week, after U.S. jobless claims unexpectedly dropped and Japan’s upper house confirmed Haruhiko Kuroda as central bank governor.

Nikkei 225 12,560.95 +179.76 +1.45%

Hang Seng 22,533.11 -86.07 -0.38%

S&P/ASX 200 5,120.24 +88.02 +1.75%

Shanghai Composite 2,278.4 +8.12 +0.36%

Honda Motor Co., a Japanese carmaker that gets 44 percent of sales from North America, gained 2.6 percent.

Sony Corp. surged 11 percent in Tokyo after Daiwa Securities Group Inc. recommended buying shares of the consumer electronics maker.