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By Bloomberg

Asian stocks rose for the first time in three days as Hong Kong’s benchmark index rallied from its biggest drop in four months and Japanese exporters gained. The dollar strengthened, while oil held near the highest this month.

The MSCI Asia Pacific Index climbed 0.7 percent at 12:07 a.m. in Tokyo. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index rose 2 percent, rebounding from a 2 percent drop on Monday, while Japan’s Topix index advanced 1.3 percent. Standard & Poor’s 500 Index futures increased 0.2 percent. The Australian dollar slid 0.4 percent versus the greenback and the yen depreciated 0.2 percent. Oil in New York traded at $56.35 a barrel.

Stocks in Hong Kong and China have surged this month amid speculation that government stimulus will revive a mainland economy expanding at the weakest pace since 2009. New York Federal Reserve President William C. Dudley said he’s optimistic a rebound in U.S. growth will warrant higher interest rates this year. Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras ordered local governments to move their funds to the central bank as the country’s cash crunch intensifies.

“We are expecting a bit more volatility,” Don Williams, a Sydney-based fund manager at Platypus Asset Management Ltd., which oversees about A$1.6 billion ($1.2 billion), said by phone. “Valuations have obviously risen substantially but they are not in bubble territory yet.”

Hong Kong

The Hang Seng China Enterprises Index of mainland companies traded in Hong Kong gained 1.3 percent. China Mobile Ltd., the world’s biggest carrier by users, jumped the most since January 2009 after reporting earnings. The move accounted for more than 25 percent of the Hang Seng Index’s advance.

The Hong Kong dollar was little changed at 7.7501 to the greenback after the city’s defacto central bank injected 11.586 billion ($1.49 billion) to defend the currency’s peg against inflows on Monday.

The Shanghai Composite Index fluctuated after falling from a seven-year high on record turnover Monday. A subindex of property shares fell as much as 4 percent after Kaisa Group Holdings Ltd. became the first Chinese real estate company to default on its U.S. currency debt.

All 10 industry groups in the Asia-Pacific stock gauge rose Tuesday. The measure trades at 14.5 times estimated earnings, versus 17.8 for the S&P 500 and 17.1 for the Stoxx Europe 600 Index.

Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 Index added 0.4 percent and New Zealand’s NZX 50 Index slipped 0.2 percent. The Kospi index was little changed in Seoul.

The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index, which tracks the U.S. currency against 10 of its most-traded peers, climbed 0.2 percent. The euro bought $1.0727.

RBA Minutes

The Aussie weakened to 76.95 U.S. cents after the Reserve Bank of Australia said households’ response to easy monetary policy was “unusually uncertain” and it saw an advantage in waiting for more economic data before deciding on further rate reductions.

The S&P 500 added 0.9 percent on Monday as International Business Machines Corp. jumped before reporting earnings that beat estimates. A gauge of technology shares surged 1.8 percent, rebounding from a 1.4 percent drop, as Apple Inc., Microsoft Corp. and Facebook Inc. increased at least 2.3 percent.

Greek bonds fell Monday, sending the three-year yield 193 basis points higher to 28.69 percent. Euro-area finance ministers meet this week to review what policy changes Greece can deliver by mid-May as the nation seeks to unlock new aid payments and avoid a default.

The Greek government issued a decree that forces local governments to transfer cash balances to the central bank, as debt to the International Monetary Fund and month-end salary payments come due.