Asia stocks rise amid hopes for US growth, Greece BANGKOK (AP) - Asian stocks edged higher Friday, setting aside weaker-than-expected U.S. home sales amid hopes for an agreement on debt relief for Greece and stronger economic growth in the world's No. 1 economy Japan's Nikkei 225 index rose 0.4 percent to 8,885.09. South Korea's Kospi added 0.3 percent to 1,963.82 and Australia's S&P ASX 200 gained 1 percent to 4,312.40. Benchmarks in Singapore and New Zealand also rose, while Indonesia fell. Sentiment was positive ahead of the release of fourth-quarter gross domestic product figures by the U.S. Commerce Department later Friday. GDP measures the economy's total output of goods and services. Economists predict growth will strengthen to around 3 percent in the October-December quarter from about 2 percent in the third quarter. Analysts at Credit Agricole CIB in Hong Kong said the reading was expected to "look healthy." Greece and its bailout rescuers - other countries that use the euro and the International Monetary Fund - are asking private creditors to swap their Greek bonds for new ones with a lower value and interest rate. In the U.S., stocks slipped Thursday after the government reported an unexpected drop in new home sales in December, capping the worst year for home sales since record-keeping began in 1963. The Dow Jones industrial average closed down 0.2 percent at 12,734.63. The Standard & Poor's 500 index closed down 0.6 percent at 1,318.43. The Nasdaq shed 0.5 percent to close at 2,805.28. But there were some bright spots. Orders to factories for long-lasting manufactured goods increased in December for the second straight month, and a key measure of business investment rose solidly. Caterpillar Inc., the world's biggest heavy equipment maker, rose 2.1 percent, the most of the 30 companies in the Dow, after beating analysts' estimates last quarter. That helped Asian industry counterparts. Japan's Komatsu Ltd. rose 2.3 percent. Hitachi Construction Machinery Co. rose 0.8 percent. Benchmark oil for March delivery was up 29 cents to $99.99 per barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The contract rose 30 cents to finish at $99.70 per barrel on the Nymex on Thursday. In currencies, the euro was unchanged from $1.3104 late Thursday in New York. The dollar fell to 77.40 yen from 77.49 yen.