Asian stocks climbed as China?s money-market rates fell the most in four weeks after the nation?s central bank injected funds into the financial system. The yen slid against major peers as policy makers meet to review Japan?s monetary policy, while oil retreated.

The MSCI Asia Pacific Index gained 0.4 percent by 12:38 p.m. in Tokyo, while Standard & Poor?s 500 Index futures rose 0.4 percent. A measure of Chinese shares in Hong Kong added 1.7 percent while the Shanghai Composite rebounded from its lowest close in six months. China?s seven-day repurchase rate was fixed 88 basis points lower than yesterday after surging to its highest this year. The yen lost 0.5 percent against the dollar as the U.S. currency climbed to its strongest in 4 1/2 months versus major peers. Oil fell 0.5 percent and steel reinforcement-bar futures in Shanghai dropped.

The People?s Bank of China yesterday added funds and expanded access to a lending facility as money-market rates surged amid rising demand for cash before the Lunar New Year and concern that some wealth-management products may default. The Bank of Japan starts a two-day policy meeting today. Johnson & Johnson and Verizon Communications Inc. report earnings today as U.S. markets reopen after a national holiday.

?The PBOC knows it can?t afford any systemic risks even if it wishes to conduct stress tests on the banks,? said Hu Yifan, chief economist at Haitong International Securities Group Ltd. in Hong Kong. ?It?s obvious that the market is still vulnerable so the PBOC has to provide cash to ease the shortfall, at least before the Lunar New Year.?

Cash Injection

The Hang Seng Index climbed 0.4 percent and the Hang Seng China Enterprises Index (HSCEI) jumped the most in a month, with just four of the 40 members declining. The Shanghai Composite advanced 0.6 percent. The gauges dropped yesterday after money market rates surged and data showed Chinese factory output slowing.

The People?s Bank of China supplied money to the largest commercial banks through its Standing Lending Facility and offered to auction reverse-repurchase agreements today, according to an official microblog post that didn?t provide details on the amounts involved.

Small- and medium-sized banks will also be able to tap the SLF for loans. The seven-day repurchase rate, a gauge of interbank funding availability, jumped 153 basis points yesterday to 6.32 percent. It was fixed at 5.44 percent today.

Cnooc Plunges

Cnooc Ltd., China?s biggest offshore oil and gas producer, dropped the most in more than two years in Hong Kong after its forecast for output growth fell short of a target. The Beijing-based explorer will produce 422 million to 435 million barrels of oil equivalent, or a 5.6 increase from a year earlier, it said in a statement to the Hong Kong stock exchange yesterday. That growth level trailed its targeted average for the five years through 2015.

Australia?s S& P/ASX 200 Index (AS51) rose 0.5 percent and the Kospi Index in South Korea added 0.5 percent. The S& P 500 lost 0.4 percent when it last traded Jan. 17.

Japan?s 1,761-stock Topix gauge rose 0.8 percent after falling 0.3 percent yesterday. More than 520 companies on the Topix report earnings next week, with about 640 posting results the period after, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.

?With earnings season about to begin in earnest, we?ll see a lot of buying in anticipation of companies posting strong results,? said Toshihiko Matsuno, a strategist at SMBC Friend Securities Co., a unit of the country?s second-largest lender. ?As the Bank of Japan meeting starts today, investors will be watching whether they raise their outlook for the economy and consumer prices.?

BOJ Meets

The BOJ will announce its review of benchmark interest rates and the monetary-base target tomorrow. The yen dropped against all 16 major peers. It lost 0.5 percent to 141.81 per euro after climbing the past four days, the longest streak of gains since August. The currency traded at 104.65 to the dollar.

The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index, which tracks the U.S. currency against 10 major peers, rose 0.1 percent in a sixth day of gains, headed for the highest close since Sept. 5. Yields on 10-year U.S. Treasuries rose two basis points to 2.84 percent after slipping four basis points last week in a third week of declines.

Gold fell, snapping three days of gains that lifted prices to the highest level in almost six weeks, as investors assessed the impact of the rally on demand while the dollar strengthened.

West Texas Intermediate crude fell to $93.89 a barrel, dropping from a two-week high on Jan. 17, on speculation fuel demand will decline in China, the world?s second-biggest oil consumer. A Purchasing Managers? Index from HSBC Holdings Plc and Markit Economics probably dropped to 50.3 this month from 50.5 in December, according to a Bloomberg News survey before data on Jan. 23. Chinese factory output slowed last month, government figures showed yesterday.

Steel reinforcement-bar futures in Shanghai declined as much as 0.9 percent as the most-active contract headed for the lowest close since its debut in May.