Asian shares and the Australian dollar rose on Thursday after an upbeat reading on China's factory sector blunted some of the more pessimistic views on the world's second-biggest economy, supporting risk appetite already burnished by a strong session on Wall Street.
Equities were on the front foot after minutes of the U.S. Federal Reserve's last meeting reassured investors that policy makers will continue to support the economy, depressing the safe-haven yen.
That set up the riskier asset markets for a decent uptick when a private survey showed China's factory sector turned in its best performance in five months in May.
The gains were capped somewhat as overall manufacturing growth still contracted slightly in a suggestion that the outlook remains murky. Still, the positive headline readings assuaged markets braced for a weak outcome.
MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan rose 0.7 percent while Tokyo's Nikkei climbed 1.2 percent.
Chinese shares rose 0.4 percent.
The Australian dollar, which is sensitive to developments in the economy of its major trading partner China, rose about a quarter of a cent to $0.9254.
Medium and long-dated U.S. Treasury yields had climbed overnight, reflecting discussions by the Fed for the eventual tightening of policy though the start of that cycle was some way off.
Source: Reuters
