Fed, oil and currencies in the spotlight

Shares in the Asia-Pacific region rose on Friday morning, as comments by a US Federal Reserve official increased expectations. The central bank could ease its monetary policy more than expected.

In mainland China, the Shanghai Composite gained 0.49% in early trade, while the Shanghai Composite gained 0.601%. In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng index rose 0.72%.

The Nikkei 225 in Japan gained 1.56% in morning trading, shares of semiconductor equipment maker Tokyo Electron having increased more than 4%. The Topix index also rose 1.68%.

In South Korea, the Kospi gained 0.68%, while the share of the Samsung Electronics heavyweight has exceeded 1%.

The Australian S & P / ASX 200 Index also rose 0.76%, with gold mines recording strong gains, as Newcrest Mining, Evolution Mining and Alacer Gold shares jumped by as much as a year earlier. at least 3%.

Shares of the National Australia Bank also jumped 2.32% after the announcement of the hiring of Ross McEwan – who would have helped transform the Royal Bank of Scotland – as the new managing director. McEwan's appointment comes as the bank strives to regain the trust of its clients following the damaging findings of the Royal Commission's investigation into the country's financial sector.

Overnight, the major indexes recorded their first gains in three sessions. The S & P 500 closed up 0.4% to 2,995.11, while the Nasdaq Composite rose 0.3% to 8,207.24. The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed the day trading in the United States with a rise of 3.12 points to 27 222.97 points.

New York Federal Reserve Chairman John Williams said Thursday that the central bank should "act quickly" when the economy slows and rates are low. "It is better to take preventive measures than to wait for the disaster," he said in a speech.

Traders increased their bets Thursday on the fact that the Fed could further reduce its spending later this month.

For its part, the New York Federal Reserve clarified Williams' comments by saying that they were not representative of the Fed's future moves.

Tensions in the Middle East intensified further on Thursday. US President Donald Trump said that a US Navy ship had destroyed an Iranian during a "defensive action". The announcement came hours after Iranian forces seized an oil tanker accused of oil trafficking.

Oil prices, however, fell sharply on Thursday, as crude output in the Gulf of Mexico was forecast to increase following last week's hurricane in the region.

In the morning of Asian trading hours on Friday, oil prices rebounded. The international futures contract on Brent crude jumped 1.66% to 62.96 dollars per barrel, while the futures on US crude rose 1.37% to 56.06 dollars on barrel.

The US dollar index, which compares the greenback to a basket of peers, stood at 96.828, after falling from levels above 97.2 yesterday.

The Japanese yen traded at 107.58 against a dollar after being firmed against levels above 107.6 in the previous session, while the Australian dollar changed hands to 0.50. , 7071 dollar after rising from less than 0.704 dollar yesterday.

Here is an overview of the data to be published during the day:

• Hong Kong: Business confidence at 16:30 HK / NAS
• Philippines: central bank inflation report

– Reuters and Fred Imbert of CNBC contributed to this report.