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 on unexpectedly strong employment data, 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 kept the official midpoint for the currency stable.
The tech-heavy Nikkei jumped 1.6% as of 0611 GMT, while the broader Topix advanced 1.1%.
South Korea's KOSPI soared 1.8%, while Taiwan's benchmark gained 0.6%.
Hong Kong's Hang Seng leapt 1.8%, and mainland blue chips were 1% 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 0.1% declines.
Pan-European STOXX 50 futures were up 0.1%.
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 as high as 4.2890% for the first time since Nov. 27.
The dollar reversed early losses to gain 0.2% to 152.755 yen after Reuters reported that BOJ policy makers were inclined to forgo a hike on Dec. 19 and wait for more data on wages at the start of next year.
The euro and franc were also heavy 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 yen, euro, franc, and three other major rivals - edged up to 106.58 after touching 106.81 on Wednesday for the first time since Nov. 27.
The euro ticked up 0.1% to $1.0506 after dipping to a one-week trough overnight.
The franc was steady at 0.88395 per dollar.
The yuan added 0.2% to 7.2667 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 most other major central banks ease policy. It reached $2,725.79 for the first time since Nov. 6 before pulling back to $2,711.24.
Crude oil extended its rally this week amid the threat of additional sanctions stifling Russian oil output.
Brent crude futures added 27 cents to $73.79 a barrel. U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude futures traded at $70.45 per barrel, up 16 cents.
(Reporting by Kevin Buckland; Editing by Edwina Gibbs and Michael Perry)
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