it’s going to be a good year! :-)

The MSCI Asia Pacific Index rallied 0.8 percent as of 11:12 a.m. in Tokyo, climbing for the third time in four days. Futures on the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index added 0.2 percent. The yen weakened 0.2 percent to 108.44 per euro and New Zealand’s dollar appreciated 0.4 percent to 82.16 U.S. cents. Oil traded near the lowest level in a week in New York.

U.S. retail sales rose 1.1 percent in February, the most in five months, according to economists surveyed by Bloomberg, reducing the likelihood the Federal Reserve will add to stimulus measures today. The Bank of Japan is also forecast to keep policy unchanged today. European Union Economic and Monetary Affairs Commissioner Olli Rehn said he was confident EU leaders would reach an agreement on increasing the size of its crisis- fighting funds this month.

“We’re starting to feel more confident and it’s going to be a good year, particularly in equities,” Kirk West, Sydney- based executive director of international investments at Principal Global Investors, manager of about $215 billion in assets, said in a Bloomberg TV interview. “‘In the U.S., it’s all about jobs. Jobs growth has continued and will ultimately lead to further consumption and that’s a virtuous cycle.”