South Korean stocks advanced 0.15 per cent to a nine-month high.
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Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index reversed earlier gains to trade down 0.1 per cent, after earlier hitting its highest level since November.
Australian shares missed the rally. The Australian dollar advanced to a more than three-month peak of $0.7756, buoyed this week by Australia’s relatively high yields and stronger investor appetite for risk.
MSCI’s world index covering 46 markets advanced 0.2%, close to the level that it hit on Tuesday – the highest in nearly a year.
“Following strong USA payrolls data last week, we are in a sweet spot where the United States economy seems to be doing okay while the chances of a near-term Fed rate hikes are still relatively small”, said Hirokazu Kabeya, chief global strategist at Daiwa Securities.
“Earnings in the US, Europe and Japan are not bad. So we may be seeing something of a “Goldilocks” market globally”, he added. Data on Tuesday showing that USA nonfarm productivity fell in the second quarter helped weigh on the dollar.
“Low US productivity growth could suggest the third quarter growth can’t be fantastic”.
“Central banks look increasingly accommodative and no one seems to be going against that trend. which supports all asset prices”, said Anton Heese, head of European rates strategy at Morgan Stanley in London.
The dollar rose against most Asia Pacific currencies on Thursday but gains were capped as traders waited for clearer signals on the timing of a possible USA interest rate hike.
That in turn sent the euro up 0.6 percent to $1.1186, extending its recovery from Friday’s one-week low of $1.1046.
The greenback had weakened broadly after data on Tuesday showed that US nonfarm productivity dropped by 0.5% in the second quarter, disappointing expectations for a 0.4% rise.
The dollar fell against a basket of currencies on Wednesday as investors re-evaluated whether the U.S.
With the focus on signs of pressure in the United States economy, demand for bonds firmed again – a factor already highlighted on Tuesday by the Bank of England’s failure to prise enough debt from investors to meet its revamped bond-buying plan.
USA bond yields fell after a weak report on U.S. productivity, with the 10-year notes yield dipping to 1.538 per cent from Monday’s two-week high of 1.616 per cent.
The New Zealand dollar NZDUSD, +0.5694% briefly shot through $0.73 against the US dollar after the country’s central bank cut the official interest rate to a record low of 2% and hinted that further cuts could be coming.
The pound took a knock on Tuesday after Bank of England policymaker Ian McCafferty said more monetary easing was likely to be needed if the UK’s economic decline worsened.
Oil prices have slipped amid worries about a stubborn global petroleum glut, weighing on energy shares and limiting gains on Wall Street after the S&P 500 and Nasdaq ticked up to intraday record highs.
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Brent futures stood at US$45.04 per barrel. The British pound recovered some of its recent weakness, rising 0.53 percent to $1.3070, recovering from $1.2956 on Tuesday, its lowest since July 11.
