Japanese stocks fluctuated as some companies rose on speculation an improved business outlook will prompt them to lift their earnings forecasts, while banks declined after a report showed lending growth slowed. Lending growth at Japanese banks slowed in August for an eighth?straight month, the Bank of Japan said today, as companies cut spending and unemployment climbed to a record.

In Asian market technology and commodity companies advanced as computer memory prices and metal prices rose. The MSCI Asia Pacific Index rose 0.1 percent to 114.33 as of 10:57 a.m. in Tokyo, with about eight stocks declining for every seven that rose.

Gold futures climbed to $1,000 an ounce for the first time in more than six months as a weaker dollar and concern that inflation may accelerate boosted the metal’s appeal as an alternative investment. Governments have cut interest rates and boosted spending to fight the worst recession since World War II, spurring investors to buy bullion as a hedge against potential inflation and debasement of currencies. Money has been printed massively. Inflation will follow fairly soon and there may be a hint of hyperinflation. Even a hint will be very good news for gold. The dollar’s role in international trade should be reduced by establishing a new currency to protect emerging markets from the “confidence game” of financial speculation, the United Nations said.

European shares closed higher on Monday, with British confectionery group Cadbury soaring 38 percent following a 10.2 billion pound ($16.7 billion) bid approach from U.S. company Kraft Foods. The pan?European FTS Euro first 300. FTEU3 index of top shares rose 1.4 percent to 975.90 points, just 0.3 percent away from an 11?month closing high. The market got support after Group of 20 finance ministers and central bankers said they would not remove economic stimulus until the global recovery was well established.

India, South Korea and Indonesia will start raising interest rates from early next year as Asia’s economies show signs of recovery, according to Goldman Sachs. “All central banks across the region have now ended their monetary easing cycles and may start to consider ‘exit strategies’ over the next year.” The Reserve Bank of India is expected to raise its benchmark rates by 300 basis points in 2010, starting in the first quarter, according to Goldman Sachs chief Asia?Pacific economist Michael Buchanan

Crude oil traded little changed near $68 a barrel in New York on speculation that OPEC will keep output unchanged as the end of the U.S. driving season cuts gasoline demand. The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries, meeting in Vienna tomorrow, is unlikely to seek a further reduction in targets, Kuwait Oil Minister Sheikh Ahmed Al?Sabah said yesterday.