Asian shares rally as investor appetite improves

Asian markets came within reach of testing their 2016 peak as strong US cues continue to calm Brexit fears.

Prospects of solid U.S. growth and accommodative economic policy in major countries whet investors risk appetite damaged by uncertainty from Brexit, a report by Reuters stated.

MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan rose 0.2% in early trade to 426.62, just below its year-to-date high of 428.22.  Japan’s Nikkei gained 1.9 %.

MSCI has recovered losses from Brexit and it will hit its highest level in over a month, the Reuters report added.

Wall Street, S&P 500 gained 0.7% to a new record close of 2,152.14 while the Nasdaq turned positive for the year.

SGX Nifty opened in green and climbed higher 0.16% at 8,538 points.

Hang Seng index edged higher 0.47% at 21,323.64 points

Oil prices dropped more than one percent in early Asian trade after industry group American Petroleum Institute (API) reported a surprise build of 2.2 million barrels in U.S. crude stockpiles last week.

Brent crude futures fell 1.0 % to $47.97.

They had surged about 5 percent on Tuesday, however, on short-covering and broad improvement in risk sentiment, the Reuters report stated.