Asia stocks: Federal Reserve, currencies, oil

SINGAPORE — Shares in Asia-Pacific rose on Friday after a comeback on Wall Street as investors continued to digest the Fed’s plans to fight inflation.

The Nikkei 225 gained 0.45% in early trade, while the Topix advanced 0.19%.

Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 rose 0.35%.

In South Korea, the Kospi climbed 0.38% and the Kosdaq added 0.70%.

Major stock indexes in the U.S. reversed losses to rise slightly at the close.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 87.06 points, or 0.25%, to 34,583.57 after losing as much as 300 points earlier in the session. The S&P 500 was up 0.43% at 4,500.21, and the Nasdaq Composite inched up 0.06% to 13,897.30 following two straight days of losses.

Defensive stocks such as consumer staples and health care led the market comeback.

“The reaction to the Fed minutes early yesterday morning continued to dominate markets overnight,” Taylor Nugent, an economist at the National Australia Bank, wrote in a note.