Asia shares race to two-year high as Fed signals no rush to tighten

Asian shares scaled two-year highs on Thursday while the dollar and U.S. bond yields slipped after the U.S. Federal Reserve signaled a cautious approach to future rate hikes and the reduction of its $4.5 trillion of bond holdings.

European shares are also expected to gain, with spread-betters looking to higher openings of 0.3 percent in Germany's DAX .GDAX and France's CAC .FCHI and 0.2 percent in Britain's FTSE .FTSE.

MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan .MIAPJ0000PUS advanced 1.0 percent, hitting its highest level since May 2015, and bringing its gains so far this year to about 17 percent.

The gains were led by South Korean shares .KS11, which rose 1.0 percent to record highs. Hong Kong's Hang Seng .HSI gained 0.8 percent to its highest level since July 2015 while Taiwanese shares hit 17-year highs .TWII. In Japan, Nikkei .N225 gained 0.5 percent.

Minutes from the Fed's last policy meeting showed policymakers agreed they should hold off on raising interest rates until it was clear a recent U.S. economic slowdown was temporary, though most said a hike was coming soon.

The minutes also showed that policymakers favored a gradual reduction in its massive balance sheet.

Fed staff proposed that the central bank set a cap on the amount of bonds that would be allowed to run off each month, initially setting it at a low level and raising it every three months.

Following the minutes, the 10-year U.S. Treasuries yield US10YT=RR fell to 2.255 percent from Wednesday's high of 2.297 percent.

Fed funds rate futures are pricing in about a 75 percent chance that the Fed will raise rates next month, moving down from more than 80 percent earlier this week .

In the currency market, the euro EUR= traded up 0.1 percent in Asia at $1.1225, having bounced back from Wednesday's low of $1.1168 and coming within sight of $1.1268, its 6 1/2-month high set on Tuesday.

Asia stocks shrug off cyber attack, North Korea threat to hit two-year high

Resilient Asian stocks edged up to a two-year high on Monday, shaking off threats from by a ransomware attack that locked some 200,000 computers in more than 150 countries at the weekend, a missile test by North Korea, and weak U.S. data. 

Oil prices jumped after Saudi Arabia's energy minister and Russia's oil minister said at a joint briefing in Beijing that they agreed output cuts should be extended to March 2018.

U.S. crude surged 1.6 percent to $48.61 a barrel. Global benchmark Brent was also up 1.6 percent at $51.63.

European stocks are also set to extend Friday's gains, with financial spreadbetter CMC Markets expecting Britain's FTSE 100 and France's CAC 40 to open 0.1 percent higher, and Germany's DAX to start the day up 0.2 percent.

MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan rose 0.3 percent to its highest level since June 2015.

MSCI's emerging markets benchmark also advanced 0.3 percent to a two-year high.
Japan's Nikkei slipped 0.2 percent on a stronger yen.

The weekend cyber attack, which slowed down after a security researcher stumbled on a way to at least temporarily limit the worm's spread, was expected to speed up on Monday when employees returning to work turned on their computers.

But with little evidence of widespread disruption in the region on Monday, and governments and businesses taking precautions to contain the impact, investors appeared unalarmed, at least for now.

North Korea said on Monday it had successfully tested a newly developed mid-to-long range missile on Sunday aimed at verifying its capability to carry a "large scale heavy nuclear warhead." The missile landed in the sea 97 km (60 miles) south of Russia.

South Korea's military said it needs further analysis on the North's claim of technical advancement and that the possibility of the isolated nation mastering missile re-entry technology is low.

North Korea is believed to be developing an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) capable of carrying a nuclear warhead and reaching the U.S. mainland.

The Korean won weakened, with the dollar up 0.15 percent at 1,124.30 won on Monday. South Korea's KOSPI climbed 0.1 percent. 

Asia stocks rise for third day on earnings; dollar stalls on Comey sacking

Asian stocks edged higher for a third consecutive day on Wednesday as investors focused on strong corporate earnings and the dollar gave back some of its recent gains.

U.S. President Donald Trump's abrupt dismissal of FBI Director James Comey prompted some unwinding of risky bets in early Asian trading but strategists said investors were cheered by a strong slate of corporate earnings, reflecting the cyclical rebound in the first quarter of 2017 was still in place.

European stocks are set to follow Asia's example, with major indices set for a broadly flat start according to index futures.

With results in for the majority of the companies on the S&P 500, estimated Q1 earnings growth is now at 14.5 percent, highest since Q3 of 2011, Thomson Reuters data shows with roughly 75 pct of companies are beating analysts' expectations.

That has helped Asia as well, with 12-month forward earnings per share for the MSCI index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan rising to its highest level in more than three years.

MSCI's Asia ex Japan index rose 0.3 percent after posting modest gains in the previous session. It hit a two-year high last week.

South Korean stocks led losers as investors took profits after liberal leader Moon Jae-in was elected president, while losses in Australia's big banks weighed on the broader market after the government levied taxes on the lenders to help balance the budget. and

Chinese stocks edged higher, shrugging off news that showed April's producer price inflation cooled more than expected, with investors stepping into the market to scoop up bargains after a recent fall.