• Asian shares scaled a two-year top on Thursday as investors wagered policy tightening in the United States would be glacial at best, lifting Wall Street to record peaks and lowering bond yields almost everywhere.
MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan rose 1.2 percent to its highest since May 2015.
• Japanese stocks ended flat on Thursday, as gains in tech shares offset weakness in financial stocks after U.S. yields slipped on Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen's comments.
The Nikkei closed 0.01 percent higher at 20,099.81, while the broader Topix ended down 0.01 percent to1,619.11.
The dollar was 0.1 percent lower at 113.02 yen after losing about 0.7 percent overnight, when it was pulled back from a four-month high near 114.495 scaled earlier in the week on expectations of U.S.-Japan monetary policy divergence.
• Chinese stocks firmed on Thursday, with the blue-chip index closing at an 18-month high, underpinned by solid trade data and Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen's signal to adopt a patient approach in the current U.S. rate-tightening phase.
The blue-chip CSI300 index rose 0.8 percent, to 3,686.92 points, while the Shanghai Composite Index gained0.6 percent to 3,218.16 points.
• Hong Kong's benchmark stock index rose for the third straight day on Wednesday to a two-year closing high, bolstered by China fund flows and investors' bargain hunting for blue chips.
The Hang Seng index rose 0.6 percent, to 26,043.64, while the China Enterprises Index gained 1.0 percent, to10,517.37 points.
Reference: Reuters, CNBC
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