Asian stocks rose on Thursday, getting a lift from a record high close on MSCI's global stocks benchmark after strong gains in oil prices buoyed energy shares.
The New Zealand dollar plunged to its lowest level since June 2016 after the Reserve Bank of New Zealand surprised markets by keeping a neutral bias at its policy review while holding interest rates steady at a record low 1.75 percent.
The New Zealand dollar slumped 1.6 percent to $0.6833, its biggest one-day loss since June 2016.
Oil prices extended their 3 percent-plus overnight gains, their biggest one-day jump since Dec. 1, following a steep drop in U.S. inventories and support from Iraq and Algeria for an extension to OPEC supply cuts.
U.S. crude rose 0.4 percent to $47.55 a barrel on Thursday. Global benchmark Brent crude also advanced 0.4 percent to $50.45.
"We saw the biggest draw in inventories for the year last week with stockpiles down more than 5 million barrels. And it looks like OPEC's production cut is finally biting," said Greg McKenna, chief market strategist at CFD and FX provider AxiTrader.
MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan rose 0.3 percent early on Thursday, while Japan's Nikkei advanced 0.15 percent.
Chinese shares were unchanged, while Hong Kong's Hang Seng climbed 0.25 percent.
Korea's KOSPI added almost 1 percent. On Wednesday, the index hit a third consecutive all-time intraday high before ending below the previous close.
MSCI's global stock benchmark was slightly higher on Thursday, heading for a second straight record close, bolstered by an almost 1 percent jump in energy shares overnight.
On Wall Street, the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq closed about 0.1 percent higher, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average ended the day almost 0.2 percent lower.
With volatility at the lowest level in more than a decade, "global equities, led by the S&P 500 are moving higher, but at a very subdued pace," Chris Weston, market strategist at IG in Melbourne, wrote in a note.
Political tensions in the U.S. also capped Wall Street gains, as the fallout from the sudden firing of FBI Director James Comey on Tuesday sapped confidence in U.S. President Donald Trump's ability to push through his economic agenda.
Democrats intensified accusations that Comey's removal was intended to undermine the FBI probe into possible collusion between Trump's presidential campaign and Russia to sway the 2016 election and demanded an independent investigation into the alleged Russian meddling.
The dollar pulled back after overnight gains on rising risk appetite and higher U.S. Treasury yields after a soft 10-year note auction.
The dollar inched down 0.1 percent at 114.15 yen on Thursday, following four straight sessions of gains, but hovered near Wednesday's near-two-month intraday high.
The dollar index, which tracks the greenback against a basket of trade-weighted peers, also crept down about 0.1 percent to 99.594.
The 10-year U.S. Treasury yield fell back to 2.398 after closing near the session high of 2.416 percent on Wednesday.
Sterling was fractionally higher at $1.2941, ahead of a Bank of England policy meeting at 1100 GMT. The central bank is expected to leave rates unchanged at a record low 0.25 percent.
Governor Mark Carney is expected to say he wants more clarity before making the first interest rate hike in nearly a decade, even though inflation is running above the central bank's 2 percent target.
The Canadian dollar weakened 0.5 percent, with the U.S. dollar buying C$1.3729 after Moody's Investor Service downgraded six Canadian banks, citing a more challenging operating environment.
The euro was about 0.1 percent higher at $1.08775.
Gold moved up as the dollar surrendered some of its gains. Spot gold added 0.2 percent to $1,220.76 an ounce.
(Reporting by Nichola Saminather; Additional reporting by Henning Gloystein; Editing by Richard Pullin & Simon Cameron-Moore)
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