Asian shares gain with Nikkei 225 up 0.72% on weaker JPY

Investing.com - Asian shares posted gains on Wednesday with the Nikkei 225 up on a weaker yen and sentiment was also helped by an upbeat session on Wall Street.

Japan's Nikkei 225 rose 0.72% n morning trade, helped by weakness in the yen and a Bank of Japan price survey that showed that domestic firms expect inflation of 1.5% in the coming year, a sign that the country's long-term deflationary pressure could be easing.

Australia's S&P/ASX 200 rose 0.2%, while the Shanghai Composite gained 0.42% and the Hang Seng index gained 0.39%

Renesas Electronics jumped 12% in Tokyo after a Nikkei report said that Apple Inc (NASDAQ:AAPL) is in talks with the Japanese electronics firm to take over one of its units--Renesas SP Drivers, which designs chips for smartphone displays.

In Sydney, shares in Goodman Fielder Ltd. (GFF.ASX) sank 19.3% after the breads and spreads maker issued a profit warning after competition intensified in sales of grocery items and New Zealand dairy farmers charged more for milk.

Overnight, U.S. stocks rose after data revealed activity in the country's manufacturing sector picked up its pace for a second consecutive month in March.
U.S. stocks gain on manufacturing report; Dow gains 0.46%

The Dow 30 rose 0.46%, the S&P 500 rose 0.70%, while the Nasdaq rose 1.64%.

The Institute for Supply Management reported earlier that its manufacturing purchasing managers' index rose to 53.7 in March from 53.2 in February, missing market expectations for a 54.0 reading.

The report showed that employment growth slowed, with the employment index falling to 51.1 from 52.3, the lowest level since June 2013.

Still, March marked the second month in which the index grew, which drew applause on Wall Street, a day after Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen said in a speech that the U.S. economy still needs monetary support to ensure more sustained recovery, which lifts stock prices by design.

The Fed is currently purchasing $55 billion in bonds a month to spur recovery, a monetary policy tool known as quantitative easing that suppresses long-term interest rates to prop up the economy, boosting stocks with the hope investing and hiring ensue.

After the close of European trade, the DJ Euro Stoxx 50 rose 0.67%, France's CAC 40 rose 0.80%, while Germany's DAX rose 0.50%. Meanwhile, in the U.K. the FTSE 100 rose 0.82%.

On Wednesday, the U.S. is to release the ADP report on private-sector job creation, which leads the government’s nonfarm payrolls report by two days. The U.S. is also to release data on factory orders.