Asian oil, copper, gold rise

Asian shares, oil and gold rose on Friday while safe-haven currencies the dollar and yen withered, as investors were comforted by recent central bank steps to support the global economy in the face of weak data, according to Reuters. A 0.3 percent rise in U.S. stock futures suggested a firm Wall Street start and financial spreadbetters expected London's FTSE 100, Paris's CAC-40 and Frankfurt's DAX to open about 0.5 percent higher. The MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan rose 1 percent and was set for a weekly gain of 1 percent. The index was led higher by a 1.2 percent rise in telecoms and technology sub-indexes as Apple Inc's iPhone 5 hit stores around the globe on Friday. Mobile carriers reported record demand. Taiwan-based Apple supplier Hon Hai rose 0.5 percent while and Largan Precision fell 0.2 percent. Australian shares gained 0.3 percent, with energy stocks rising off the back of higher oil prices. Hong Kong shares increased 0.9 percent and Tokyo's Nikkei stock average added 0.8 percent. 'The general consensus at the moment is that any major dips in the market will be supported by the fact that central banks are happy to act,' said Stan Shamu, market analyst at IG Markets. Reflecting a shift of money into riskier assets, the dollar index measured against a basket of key currencies fell 0.2 percent. Spot dollar dropped 0.1 percent against the yen to 78.14. The euro added 0.2 percent against the dollar to $1.2997 and rose against the yen and commodities-linked currencies such as the Australian dollar. The Aussie, which is often used to gauge investor risk sentiment, gained 0.4 percent to $1.0478. 'Key global stock indices, while pausing from their rally, generally remain at high levels, suggesting that markets have not entirely turned against risk,' Junya Tanase, chief FX strategist at JPMorgan in Tokyo. 'Major central banks pursuing aggressive monetary easing have reduced tail risks for the global economic growth and the euro zone debt crisis, raising the probability for dollar and the yen to weaken and support the cross yen,' he said.