Asian stocks rose, with the regional benchmark index heading for a second day of gains, as increases in Japanese utilities countered a slide in Chinese stocks.

Nikkei 225 14,758.42 -23.79 -0.16%

S&P/ASX 200 5,221 +10.66 +0.20%

Shanghai Composite 2,217.01 -24.91 -1.11%

Tokyo Electric Power Co. jumped 18 percent after the Yomiuri newspaper quoted Prime Minister Shinzo Abe as saying the Japan's No. 1 utility shouldn't take the full blame for the Fukushima nuclear crisis.

Kajima Corp. jumped 8.8 percent after the Japanese construction company forecast operating profit will increase 68 percent in the current year.

Industrial & Commercial Bank of China Ltd., the nation's biggest lender, slipped 1.4 percent after JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut its growth outlook for the world's biggest economy and as concern grew the government will introduce more property curbs.