SYDNEY: Asian shares hopped higher on Thursday after Wall Street strode to new records and bonds rallied on wagers the European Central Bank would extend its asset buying campaign at a policy meeting later in the session.
Australian stocks led the way with a rise of 0.9 in early trade, while Nikkei futures NIYc1 pointed to an opening gain of around 1 percent.
MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan rose 0.4 percent to a one-month top.
The euro seemed little troubled after Moody's changed its outlook on Italy to negative, warning it may downgrade the credit rating if the country's deteriorating economic and debt outlook was not reversed.
The common currency took the news relatively well, easing just a touch to $1.0756, from a top of $1.7068.
Markets have been surprisingly buoyant in the wake of Italy's "No" vote last weekend, in part on hopes for continued support from the ECB which may widen the type of bonds it buys.
Also helping sentiment were reports Italy would step in to rescue troubled bank Monte dei Paschi, which lifted its shares by 9 percent.
All of which helped drive down yields on European peripheral debt, with buying spilling over to German bunds and U.S. Treasuries. Yields on the 30-year Treasury fell by almost 6 basis points in the biggest daily decline since later August.
That drop nudged the dollar down a touch to 113.63 yen while the dollar index dipped 0.3 percent.
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