Asia stocks rally on Fed cut bets; Aussie jumps on jobs data

By Kevin Buckland

TOKYO (Reuters) - Asian stocks gained on Thursday, tracking Wall Street's tech-led rally overnight after an as-expected reading of U.S. consumer inflation cemented bets for a Federal Reserve interest-rate cut next week.

Japan's Nikkei topped 40,000 for the first time since mid-October, led by advances in chip-sector shares. The exporter-heavy index also got a boost from a weakening yen, as traders pared bets for a Bank of Japan rate hike next week.

The Australian dollar surged after employment data topped estimates by a wide margin, rebounding from Wednesday's weakness following a Reuters report that Beijing is considering allowing the yuan to depreciate further next year. China is Australia's top trading partner and the Aussie is often used as a liquid proxy for the yuan.

The yuan held its ground above a one-week low after the central bank set a marginally stronger official fixing.

The tech-heavy Nikkei jumped 1.5% as of 0202 GMT, while the broader Topix climbed 1.2%.

South Korea's KOSPI added 0.7%, while Taiwan's benchmark gained 1%.

Hong Kong's Hang Seng advanced 0.4%, and mainland blue chips were 0.2% higher.

Overnight, the tech-focused Nasdaq shot up 1.8% to close above 20,000 for the first time, while the S&P 500 climbed 0.8%. Futures for both indexes, however, pointed to 0.2% declines.

The U.S. consumer price index rose 0.3% last month, the largest gain since April, but exactly as forecast by economists in a Reuters poll and not hot enough to derail Fed officials from normalizing policy, analysts said.

"The U.S. CPI print lit a flame in U.S. equity," said Chris Weston, head of research at Pepperstone.

"The market has essentially seen one of the last remaining obstacles that could derail sentiment out of the way", he said, "seeing the coast somewhat clearer for the illustrious seasonal chase of returns to play out into year-end."

Traders now lay 97% odds on a quarter-point Fed cut on Dec. 18.

The U.S. dollar held firm near a two-week high, boosted by higher Treasury yields as data showing a widening U.S. budget deficit spurred caution on debt.

U.S. 10-year Treasury yields rose on Thursday to 4.2828%, the highest since Nov. 27.

Major peers the euro and franc were under pressure ahead of expected cuts of as much as half a percentage point at the European Central Bank and Swiss National Bank later in the day.

The U.S. dollar index, which measures the currency against the euro, franc, yen and three other major rivals, was little changed at 106.51 after touching 106.81 on Wednesday for the first time since Nov. 27.

The euro ticked up 0.1% to $1.05065 after dipping to a one-week trough overnight.

The dollar eased 0.1% to 0.88345 Swiss franc.

It slipped 0.2% to 152.11 yen, edging back from a two-week high hit Wednesday on the back of a Bloomberg report that BOJ officials see "little cost" in waiting to hike rates again. Market-implied odds on a quarter-point increase on Dec. 19 last stood at 27%.

The yuan added 0.2% to 7.2670 per dollar in offshore trading.

Gold rose to a more than one-month high amid the promise of lower bond yields as the Fed and other major central banks ease policy. It reached $2,725.79 for the first time since Nov. 6 before pulling back to $2,710.45.

U.S. crude hovered near a 2 1/2-week peak amid the threat of additional sanctions stifling Russian oil output.

U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude futures last traded at $70.20 per barrel, down 9 cents from Wednesday, when it rose as high as $70.53 for the first time since Nov. 25.

Brent crude futures eased 3 cents to $73.49 a barrel.

(Reporting by Kevin Buckland; Editing by Edwina Gibbs)