Investing.com - Asian shares gained on Thursday with investors noting a back-and-forth on the prospects for a near-term rate hike by the Fed and a surprise decision by OPEC to curb output.
The Nikkei 225 rose 1.42%, while the S&P/ASX 200 gained 0.91%
In China, the Shanghai Composite rose 0.57% as liquidity flows in the market were watched ahead of a major holiday period next week.
Investors mulled chances of a Fed rate hike in November as at least two FOMC voters urging the course.
Capping a day of policymaker views, Kansas City Federal Reserve Bank President Esther George repeated views that a rate hike is needed, noting she voted for an interest rate hike in September as the need to gradually normalize policy grows and could lead to interest rates getting hiked too quickly later.
Elsehwere, OPEC members surprised markets Wednesday and agreed to production curbs under a formula to cut output to a range of 32.5 million to 33 million barrels of oil per day from 33.4 million.
Overnight, U.S. stocks were higher after the close on Wednesday, as gains in the Oil & Gas, Basic Materials and Industrials sectors led shares higher.
At the close in NYSE, the Dow Jones Industrial Average added 0.61%, while the S&P 500 index gained 0.53%, and the NASDAQ Composite index gained 0.24%.