Stocks across Asia up after Fed minutes

SYDNEY, NSW, Australia- Stocks across Asia went up on Thursday after rallies on the U.S. markets overnight.

The hard line taken by the U.S. Federal Reserve in hiking official interest rates may be softening has spurred demand for stocks and a sell-off in the U.S. dollar.

In a note Thursday, analysts at Barclays said that FOMC participants are determined to raise the policy rate in the face of a very tight labour market and unacceptably high inflation.

The minutes show a divergence of views among members about the peak rate and uncertainty about the peak rate. In Japan, the Nikkei 225 advanced 267.35 points or 0.95 percent to 28,383. The Australian All Ordinaries increased by 9.80 points or 0.13 percent to 7,432. In New Zealand, the S&P NZX 50 was flat, edging down 2.09 points or 0.02 percent to 11,321. The Hang Seng in Hong Kong was trading ahead of 93 points at the time of writing. The Shanghai Composite was down 5 points.

Foreign currencies hit lofty heights on Thursday on the back of the FOMC minutes. The euro swelled to 1.0432 by the Sydney close. The British pound went up to 1.2087. The Japanese yen increased to 138.93. The Swiss franc was sharply higher at 0.9403.

Overnight on Wall Street, the Nasdaq Composite surged 110.91 points or 0.99 percent to 11,285. The Standard and Poor's 500 appreciated 23.68 points or 0.59 percent to 4,027. The Dow Jones industrials lost ground, lifting 95.96 points or 0.28 percent to 34,19406.