WELLINGTON: Asian stocks will likely rise on Monday as growing confidence in the strength of the US economy fuel expectations for global growth, however uncertainty over Japan and the Middle East should temper gains.
The greenback rallied and sentiment was boosted on Friday as a Federal Reserve official signalled interest rates would need to rise soon, saying the world's largest economy has gained "significant strength and momentum".
The main Wall Street indices shuffled as much as 0.4 percent higher, helped by tech shares after Oracle Corp gave an upbeat outlook for spending on IT.
However another day of low volume caused analysts to question the conviction behind the rally as turmoil in the Middle East and Japan's nuclear crisis held up high oil prices.
Asian stocks listed on Wall Street slipped 0.6 percent.
British shares rose 0.3 percent while European shares gained 0.1 percent, as the outlook for company earnings overcame the natural disasters and political upheaval.
The US dollar rose on expectations of higher rates, while the euro struggled after Standard & Poor's downgraded Portuguese debt after the country's government collapsed.
Japanese markets will be buoyed by a weaker yen, although the Nikkei may struggle to advance after adding 3.6 percent last week, as the country looks set for a long battle to contain radiation at the crippled Fukushima power plant.
Domestic institutional investors are not seen as likely buyers this week given it is the end of the financial year on Thursday. Local analysts see the Nikkei moving between 9,000 and 9,600 this week, with the 200 day moving average of 9,822 seen as the testing level on the upside.
Nikkei futures traded in Chicago 35 points below the last closing level in Osaka.
Australian stocks may struggle with share price index futures easing 9 points to 4,764, a 21.4 point premium to the close of the underlying S&P/ASX 200 index, but weaker gold and metal prices will likely weigh.
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