Asian shares mostly rise, cheered by US rally, easing oil prices

TOKYO: Asian shares mostly rose in early Friday trading, getting a lift from a rally on Wall Street as well as declining oil prices.

Japan's benchmark Nikkei 225 gained 1.9 per cent to 65,332.57 after the Bank of Japan raised the benchmark interest rate to 1.25 per cent from 1.0 per cent, a 31-year high.

The move had been widely figured in, coming after the Federal Reserve also raised its key rate this week. Pressures have been coming from the US for Japan to raise rates because of concerns about the weakening yen.

The nations intervened together recently to prop up the yen. But the efforts haven't had a big impact.

In currency trading, the US dollar rose to 157.11 Japanese yen from 155.95 yen. The euro cost USD 1.1487, up from USD 1.1480.

South Korea's Kospi jumped 2.3 per cent to 6,866.83. Australia's S&P/ASX 200 was little changed, slipping less than 0.1 per cent to 8,731.50. Hong Kong's Hang Seng edged up nearly 0.7 per cent to 24,769.80, while the Shanghai Composite added 1.0 per cent to 3,916.08.

Falling oil prices and easing pressure from the bond market helped Wall Street reverse many of its losses from the prior day.

The S&P 500 jumped 1.1 per cent for just its second rise in the last nine days. The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 316 points, or 0.6 per cent, and the Nasdaq composite climbed 1.7 per cent.

Wall Street stocks got a boost after the price for a barrel of Brent crude oil slid from the nearly USD 110 it reached earlier in the week on worries that the war with Iran will keep oil bottled up in the Middle East instead of going to customers worldwide.

In Asian trading, Brent, the international standard, lost 0.94 per cent to USD 103.83 a barrel. Benchmark US crude slid 0.83 per cent to USD 101.06 a barrel.

Brent is still more expensive than the USD 72 per barrel that it cost earlier this summer, but the recent drop helped pull yields lower in the bond market and removed some pressure on stocks. The yield on the 10-year Treasury fell to 4.93 per cent from 5.01 per cent late Wednesday.

The Federal Reserve on Wednesday raised the short-term interest rate that it controls, the federal funds rate, by a quarter of a percentage point for its first hike in more than three years. Officials also signalled they may raise the federal funds rate one more time this year as they try to get high inflation in the US under control.

The signals sent Wall Street on a roller coaster. Stocks initially remained higher for the day after the Fed made its announcement Wednesday. They then slid sharply before recovering a chunk of the losses before trading ended.

On the upside for markets, the shift to higher interest rates built confidence that the Fed is committed to getting inflation back to its target of 2 per cent. On the downside for markets, higher rates undercut prices for stocks and other investments.

All told, the S&P 500 rose 85.95 points to 7,637.76. The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 316.14 to 51,778.04, and the Nasdaq composite rallied 439.87 to 26,418.30.