Asian shares soar to one-month high

Asian shares climbed to one-month highs on Wednesday, steered by a robust Wall Street on optimism over corporate earnings and prospects the US Federal Reserve will reaffirm its willingness to wait for an extended period before raising interest rates. MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan gained 1.1 per cent, led by a 1.8 per cent rise in South Korean shares. Tokyo gained 1.46 per cent, or 224.00 points to close at 15,553.91. Seoul jumped 1.84 per cent, or 35.49 points, to end on 1,961.17. Hong Kong was up 1.27 per cent, or 299.51 points to 23,819.87, Shanghai rallied 1.50 per cent, or 35.16 points, to 2,373.03 at the close, Sydney bucked the regional trend, slipping 0.09 per cent, or 4.90 points, to finish at 5,447.7. The dollar held firmer against the yen. The dollar traded at 108.18 yen, not far from a two-week high of 108.36 yen hit last week. The euro rose to a one-week high of $1.2765 on Tuesday and last stood at $1.2738 in Asian trade. Oil prices edged higher. US oil reserves are expected to have risen by 3.1 million barrels in the week to October 24. Gold was at $1,229.79 an ounce, against $1,230.40 late Tuesday, according to Reuters.