Asian shares rose on Thursday, taking early cues from Wall Street gains overnight, as receding worries of near-term U.S. interest rate hikes continued to buoy risk sentiment.
MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan .MIAPJ0000PUS rose 0.4 percent. Australian stocks added 1.3 percent.
Australia's ASX 200 was up 1.66 percent, boosted by advances in the financials, energy and materials subindexes, up 1.73, 2.26 and 2.01 percent respectively.
Investor risk appetite has increased since Fed Chair Yellen said on Tuesday that the U.S. central bank should proceed cautiously as it looks to hike rates, pushing back against some colleagues who have suggested another move may be just around the corner.
Yellen's views were echoed by Chicago Fed President Charles Evans, who said on Wednesday there was a high hurdle to raising rates in April, given low inflation.
Following such cautious views from top Fed officials, the Dow .DJI climbed 0.5 percent and the S&P 500 .SPX rose 0.4 percent overnight. The CBOE Market Volatility Index .VIX, Wall Street's "fear gauge", ended down 1.9 percent at its lowest level since August.
Reference: Reuters, CNBC
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