ASIAN stocks fluctuated last week

TOKYO: ASIAN stocks fluctuated last week as Japanese and Australian benchmark indexes rose after reports showed better-than-estimated economic growth or employment, while China-related companies fell on concern policy makers will raise interest rates to slow inflation.

Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group Inc., Japan's biggest publicly traded bank, climbed 4.2%. Westpac Banking Corp., Australia's second-largest bank by market value, gained 2.9%. Industrial & Commercial Bank of China Ltd., the world's biggest bank by market value, declined 2.5% in Hong Kong and Agricultural Bank of China Ltd., the nation's third-largest lender, tumbled 5.1%.