Asia stocks head for 6th week of gains

U.S. labour and inflation reports supported a prevailing view that monetary policy will remain growth-friendly and liquidity abundant while confidence builds, helping Wall Street stocks to an eighth day of gains.

That scenario has kept investors taking cash out of low-yielding money markets at a record pace and pouring it into stocks and bonds.

The two biggest uncertainties in investors' minds -- Greece's debt crisis and inflation in China -- remain lingering.

"Greece's woes are one of the factors that will continue to keep a lid on the global markets, but on the other hand, many investors don't seem to expect the most devastating outcome," said Kenichi Hirano, operating officer at Tachibana Securities in Tokyo.

The Greek finance ministry denied a media report on Thursday that said the heavily indebted country was planning on going to the International Monetary Fund for aid in early April.

* Japan's Nikkei share average was the biggest gainer among Asian markets, rising 0.7 percent and approaching a test of the 2010 high.

* The MSCI index of Asia Pacific stocks outside Japan <.MIAPJ0000PUS> was up 0.1 percent on the day. It will likely rise for a sixth consecutive week, the longest string of gains since March-April 2009, when a global equity rally began.

* Shares of South Korea's Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd <005930.KS> were up 0.4 percent after Asia's biggest technology firm said it was targeting double-digit sales growth in 2010 and planned for capital spending to increase this year.

* The expiration of U.S. stock index futures, stock index options, stock options and individual stock futures, known as the quadruple witching, may cause very low volatility to increase.