Asia shares advance to 5-week highs, euro falters

Asian stocks rose to their highest in more than a month on Tuesday, underpinned by a broad recovery on Wall Street while the euro was stuck near a one-week low against the dollar amid talk of more sanctions against Moscow.

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MSCI`s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan built on early gains and advanced 0.3% to 602.2, the strongest since Feb. 24.

The benchmark has lost 4% so far this year, dragged by big declines in Chinese shares, while the Russia-Ukraine crisis has also hurt the near-term outlook.

The United States and Europe were planning new sanctions to punish Moscow over civilian killings in Ukraine, and President Volodymyr Zelenskiy warned more deaths were likely to be uncovered in areas seized from Russian invaders.

"Geopolitical shocks historically did not tend to dominate the markets for long. The start of Fed tightening should not be seen as a negative for stocks, at least not in the early stages," global markets strategists at JPMorgan said in a note.

"Post the initial volatility, equities tended to make new all-time highs," JPMorgan said, adding that autos, airlines and banks could recover as "geopolitics stops driving the market narrative."

European stocks were headed lower as EUROSTOXX 50 futures eased 0.1% and FTSE futures dipped 0.2%.

S&P 500 stock futures shed 0.08% and Nasdaq futures slipped 0.05% after Wall Street rose on Monday, supported by tech shares.

Global stocks have had a volatile quarter as the Russia-Ukraine crisis and worries over higher commodity prices fuel inflation concerns and cloud the direction of interest rates.

"Profit reporting season in the U.S. kicks off next week and it will be interesting to see how firms are interpreting the tea leaves, and whether earnings guidance is revised down," Tapas Strickland, director of economics and markets at NAB, said in a note.

Japan`s Nikkei edged up 0.16%, the S&P/ASX 200 index rose 0.2%, while South Korean stocks added 0.1%.

Markets in mainland China and Hong Kong were closed for a public holiday on Tuesday. Shanghai went into a two-stage lockdown last week as authorities worked to contain the city`s biggest ever COVID-19 outbreak.

In the currency markets, the Australian dollar jumped to a nine-month high after the central bank signalled higher interest rates were closer. The Aussie strengthened 0.9% to $0.7612, its strongest since late June.

The euro was steady at $1.09710 after dropping as low as $1.0960 in the previous session for the first time since March 28.

Global markets were looking to Wednesday`s release of minutes from the Federal Reserve`s last policy meeting that could offer signs the U.S. central bank could raise its benchmark overnight interest rate by half a percentage point next month.

Oil futures rose as the potential for more sanctions added to concerns about supply disruptions, while Iran nuclear talks stalled.

Brent crude futures gained 1.1% to $108.7 a barrel, while U.S. West Texas Intermediate futures also rose.

Gold prices ticked down, with spot gold easing 0.2% to $1,928.7 per ounce.