Jurnas.com | ASIAN stocks rose to a one-week high and South Korea’s won gained after a rocket launched by North Korea broke up and fell into the sea. Commodities fell as China’s economy grew less than economists forecast.

The MSCI Asia Pacific Index (MXAP) climbed 0.8 percent as of 12:47 p.m. in Tokyo, poised for the biggest gain since March 27. The Kospi index advanced 1 percent and the won strengthened against all 16 major counterparts. The yen slid 0.2 percent and Standard & Poor’s 500 Index futures declined 0.2 percent. The S&P GSCI Index of 24

North Korea launched a rocket in defiance of international pressure including U.S. warnings that doing so would nullify a food aid deal. Asian stocks pared gains after China said its economy expanded 8.1 percent in the first quarter from a year earlier, the slowest pace since mid-2009 and less than the 8.4 percent growth predicted in a Bloomberg survey. Reports on U.S. consumer confidence and inflation are due later today.

“Investors are just shrugging off this launch,” said Im Jeong Jae, a Seoul-based fund manager at Shinhan BNP Paribas Asset Management Co., which oversees about $28 billion. “The news came out before the market opened that the rocket launch failed, so investors didn’t have to worry about it.” Bloomberg