Asia stocks edge up, await China GDP

MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan fell 0.5 percent while Japan's Nikkei dropped 1.4 percent to near-two-month lows, with financials coming under pressure. (A pedestrian walks past a stock markets indicator board in Tokyo, Japan, 05 April 2016. - EPA)

TOKYO: Asian stocks inched up to near decade highs on Thursday, continuing to ride on a global equities rally, while the dollar resumed its rise on the back of a spike in U.S. yields.

Trade was cautious, however, as investors waited for third-quarter economic growth data from China at 0200 GMT, which is expected to show its momentum is starting to cool as the government reins in the property market and cracks down on riskier lending.

MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan edged up 0.05 percent, nearing a 10-year peak scaled on Tuesday.

Japan's Nikkei rose 0.4 percent to a fresh 21-year high, while South Korea's KOSPI, on a record breaking tear for the past week, nudged up to an historical high and Australian stocks added 0.3 percent.

The Dow <.DJI> closed above 23,000 for the first time on Wednesday, driven by a jump in IBM after it hinted at a return to revenue growth. [.N]

Elsewhere, Germany's DAX <.GDAXI> had risen to another record high overnight thanks to a soggy euro.

"The surrounding environment continues to favor the broader risk asset markets, with global economies recovering gradually and inflation staying low," said Masahiro Ichikawa, senior strategist at Sumitomo Mitsui Asset Management in Tokyo.

"Potential factors that could impact the markets in the short term are changes to the Federal Reserve's leadership and China's Communist Party conference."

Current Fed Chair Janet Yellen's term expires in February and investors are keen to see who U.S. President Donald Trump will pick as her replacement.

China's twice-a-decade congress kicked off on Wednesday. The focus is on how much power President Xi Jinping can cement, and

whether he will use the extra clout to push through with more extensive but potentially risky economic and financial market reforms.

The dollar index against a basket of six major currencies was 0.05 percent higher at 93.397 <.DXY>.

The index has snapped a four-session winning run overnight on lackluster U.S. data but resumed its climb after the 10-year Treasury yield spiked 4 basis points with safe-haven bond prices falling on better investor risk appetite.

The dollar was steady at 112.930 yen after rising 0.6 percent overnight. The euro nudged up to $1.1799 .

In commodities, Brent crude oil futures was 0.2 percent higher at $58.24 per barrel.

Brent had risen to a three-week high of $58.54 a barrel on Wednesday on worries about tensions in Iraq and Iran but lost steam after a surprising drop in U.S. refining rates and an unexpected build in fuel stocks signaled slower demand in the world's top oil consumer. - Reuters