Asia stocks, oil prices jump as dollar sags after Fed move

TOKYO/SINGAPORE—Asian shares edged higher on Friday, oil touched a 2016 high and the US dollar weakened as investors turned more positive on riskier assets after the Federal Reserve’s cautious stance on further interest rate increases.

MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan rose 0.8 percent, entering positive territory for the year for the first time. It is up 2.3 percent this week, and has surged 10.4 percent this month.

The Hang Seng index was up 0.6 percent, heading for a weekly rise of 3.6 percent. China’s Shanghai Composite index and CSI 300 climbed about 1.9 percent each, and were set for gains of about 6.4 percent for the week.

Chinese home prices rose at their fastest clip in almost two years in February thanks to redhot demand in big cities. Still, risks of overheating in some places combined with weak growth in smaller cities threaten to put more stress on an already slowing economy.

Japanese shares, however, bucked the trend as the dollar’s fall against the yen is seen hurting the country’s exporters, with the Nikkei closing down 1.3 percent for a weekly decline also of 1.3 percent.

The broader gains echoed a recovery onWall Street, where the S&P 500 Index gained 0.66 percent overnight to close at its highest since Dec. 31, led by the materials and energy sectors.

The rallies in commodities and equities were spurred by Wednesday’s Fed review when policymakers took a more cautious stance on future US interest rate increases.

“We have got an important week out of the way from a macro data perspective, and not only have we come out of it unscathed, we are seemingly in a stronger place than where we started the week,” said Ben Le Brun, market analyst at online brokerage OptionsXpress in Sydney.

"We have heard from central banks in all corners of the globe now and the liquidity party rolls on with the potential for more to come.”

The benign rate environment, as well as optimism major producers would reach a deal to freeze output, proved a boon for oil.

Opec kingpin Saudi Arabia and non-Opec producers led byRussia will meet on April 17 in the Qatar capital Doha, aiming for the first global supply deal in 15 years.

After surging more than 10 percent over the prior two sessions, US oil futures advanced to $40.55, the highest level since Dec. 4. They were last trading at $40.25, on track for a 4.6percent increase for the week, their fifth straight week of gains and longest winning streak in about a year.

Oil’s rally has also been aided by a weakening dollar, triggered by the Fed’s cautious approach to raising rates.

The dollar’s index against a basket of six major currencies on Friday touched a five-month low of 94.578, before edging up to 94.825.

The euro retreated slightly from the fiveweek high of $1.1342 it hit on Thursday, last fetching $1.1310.

The yen was trading at 111.48, after climbing to 110.67 to the dollar on Thursday, the highest since October 2014.

The Chinese yuan firmed sharply against the dollar to reach a 2016 high, after the People’s Bank of China set the midpoint rate at 6.4628 per dollar prior to market open, compared with the previous fix of 6.4961, the biggest daily rise since November.

The spot market opened at 6.4615 and hit an intraday high of 6.4559, its firmest since late December, before easing to 6.4669, still stronger than the previous close of 6.4755.