Asian shares edge up after Wall Street gains

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By Lisa Twaronite

TOKYO (Reuters) - Asian shares edged up on Friday, talking heart from a late earnings-led surge on Wall Street even as continuing concerns about global growth tempered gains.

MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan was up about 0.1 percent on the day, but up more than 1 percent for the month.

On Thursday, major U.S. indexes surged almost 1 percent or more as Apple Inc and Boeing Co extended their gains after strong earnings reports this week.

U.S. jobless claims figures also helped sentiment, with the number of Americans filing new claims for unemployment benefits last week marking its biggest weekly decline since November 2012, falling to its lowest since April 2000.

Japan's Nikkei stock average added about 0.8 percent, clawing back some of the 1.1 percent lost the previous session, its biggest one-day drop in two weeks.

Mostly upbeat data released before the market open showed Japan's core consumer inflation slowed for a fifth straight month in December due to slumping oil prices, though factory output rose 1.0 percent, helped by a much-awaited rebound in exports and the jobless rate fell.

"Overseas catalysts still dominate the Japanese market's mood. But with quarterly results being released now, investors are seeing if there is any forward-looking indication on how companies will perform in 2015," said Masaru Hamasaki, head of the market & investment information department at Amundi Japan.

The U.S. dollar edged down against its Japanese counterpart, losing about 0.3 percent to 117.95 yen.

According to Japanese government and central bank officials, the Bank of Japan has put monetary policy on hold and found backing for its wait-and-see stance from advisors to Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, who worry more easing could send the yen to damagingly low levels.

This newfound caution means Japan is set to be an outlier at a time when central banks from Canada to the euro zone to Singapore have eased policy to prop up faltering growth and defuse deflationary pressures. 

Expectations of further easing from the Reserve Bank of Australia sent the Australian dollar slumping to its lowest in over five years this week, with the Aussie falling as low as $0.7720. It was last up about 0.2 percent on the day at $0.7774.

Ultimately, diverging monetary policy expectations should continue to support the greenback, as the Federal Reserve gears up to tighten policy later this year amid an improving U.S. economy.

"If there is one takeaway from the recent price action in the foreign exchange market, it should be that buying U.S. dollars is still the best bet in the global currency war," Kathy Lien, managing director at BK Asset Management in New York, said in a note.

The euro inched up about 0.1 percent to $1.1327, moving further away from this week's 11-year low of $1.1098.

U.S. crude steadied on Friday, edging up from a nearly six-year low touched overnight on data that showed a rise in already record-high U.S. oil inventories. U.S. crude was nearly flat on the day at $44.54 a barrel.

Spot gold was up about 0.3 percent at $1,260.56 an ounce after falling more than 2 percent to a two-week low overnight on concerns over a looming increase in U.S. interest rates. Gold is still on track to post its biggest monthly gain in almost a year.

Investors were likely to remain cautious ahead of fourth-quarter U.S. gross domestic product data later on Friday. A Reuters poll tipped the economy to have grown 3.0 percent.

(Additional reporting by Ayai Tomisawa in Tokyo; Editing by Shri Navaratnam and Richard Borsuk)