Asian shares gain on easy money views, Nikkei posts best week this year

Share markets in Asia rallied on Friday with the Nikkei breaking 15,000 and posting its best week this year with other bourses joining the fray on expectations the Federal Reserve will keep its stimulus programs at current levels for the near term.

The Nikkei jumped 1.7% to 15131.47, posting a 7.6% gain on the week as the yen weakened steadily above 100 on Friday.

A weaker yen supports stocks of Japanese exporters in particular and weakened after Fed Vice Chairwoman Janet Yellen said that there are dangers to ending the central bank's $85 billion-a-month bond-buying program too soon, in comments made Thursday during her nomination hearing to take the top job at the U.S. central bank.
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The Shanghai Composite rallied 2.3% on speculation state-owned companies will be revamped, including share sales to widen ownership. The speculation came after a meeting of senior leaders to set economic policies for the coming decade ended on Tuesday.

The initial impression was that large-scale economic reforms were unlikely. But the details are now dribbling out that show some strong efforts at reforms that could provide an economic boost, some investors said.

Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index rose 1.5%, along with South Korea's Kospi up 1.8% and Australia's S&P/ASX 200 up 0.8%.