Asian shares firmed on Friday as Singapore became the latest country to pause its policy tightening and markets became more confident the likely next hike in U.S. rates would be the last this cycle.
The dovish signals helped keep non-yielding gold near one-year highs, while the euro led the currency pack as the European Central Bank stays stubbornly hawkish.
The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) surprised many by leaving policy unchanged, saying the tightening already underway would ensure inflation slowed sharply later this year.
The MAS joined central banks in Canada and Australia in putting hikes on hold, while the U.S. Federal Reserve was seen nearer pausing after a soft producer price report.
Futures still imply a 67% chance the Fed will raise rates in May, but then almost zero chance of a further increase and maybe 50 basis points of cuts by year end.
Figures on U.S. retail sales are due later in the session and some analysts are warning the risk is for a downside surprise, which would support the dovish turn.
The prospect of a peak for rates helped offset worries about recession and MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan nudged up 0.4%.
Japan's Nikkei added 1.1% and Singapore stocks 0.5%.
Chinese blue chips firmed 0.2%, with the economic outlook brightened by a surprisingly upbeat trade performance.
"The stronger-than-expected March China export gain suggests that the economic recovery is more broadly-based than our expectations, and we have revised up our 1Q GDP forecast," wrote analysts at JPMorgan in a note, forecasitng a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 10.2% quarter-on-quarter from 9.0% previously.
EUROSTOXX 50 futures added 0.3% and FTSE futures 0.2%. S&P 500 futures and Nasdaq futures were steady after sharp gains overnight.
Investors are now bracing for earnings from Citigroup Inc, Wells Fargo and JPMorgan Chase & Co which could test the bullish mood given recent stress in the sector.
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