Asia shares rally on Fed cut bets; yen pares gains
Asian stocks rose on Monday on renewed bets that the Federal Reserve would likely ease rates this year, while the yen weakened after a strong surge last week from Tokyo's suspected currency intervention.
Trading was thinned in Asia with Japan out for a holiday, though markets in mainland China got off to an upbeat start after returning from an extended break.
MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan edged more than 0.5% higher, while China's blue-chip index gained 1.4%.
Chinese shares offshore posted strong gains last week while mainland markets were closed from Wednesday to Friday for the Labour Day holiday.
Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index rose 4.7% last week and on Friday clocked its longest daily winning streak since 2018. It was last down 0.2%.
The Nasdaq-listed Golden Dragon China Index jumped 5.5% last week.
Similarly, in currency markets, the offshore yuan was last roughly 0.1% lower at 7.2013 per dollar, after strengthening more than 1% last week, in part due to a broadly weaker dollar.
The People's Bank of China on Monday also lifted its official yuan midpoint to the highest in three weeks, catching up with movements offshore. That sent the onshore yuan to its highest in over a month at 7.2009 per dollar.
The rebound in Chinese markets has come on the back of the country's Politburo meeting, where policymakers said they will step up support for the economy with prudent monetary and proactive fiscal policies.
«While the overall policy stance is in-line with those set at the National
