* Asian shares supported by Wall St; Nikkei leads the way
* Yen edges lower on talk BOJ will relax policy further
* Oil holds above $82, metals little moved
By Lincoln Feast
SINGAPORE, March 12 (Reuters) - Asian stocks edged up on
Friday, heading for a fifth straight week of rises, with energy
stocks firm as oil held above $82 a barrel and financials
ticking higher after U.S. talks to force broad banking reform
collapsed.
The yen dipped, dented by speculation the Bank of Japan
could further ease its monetary policy in the near term, while
the dollar was treading water ahead of U.S. retail sales data
later in the day.
Asian stocks have been pushing higher since early February,
helped by improving sentiment around Greece's debt woes, hopes
for economic recovery and robust fund flows.
Japanese stocks again led the advance, with the Nikkei
<> average rising as much as 1.1 percent to a seven-week
high as investors welcomed the weaker yen.
"The risk of a strong yen appears to be receding as the
Bank of Japan is expected to move towards more monetary easing,
increasing demand for shares of exporters," said Kenichi
Hirano, operating officer at Tachibana Securities.
The dollar has fallen close to 3 percent against the yen
since hitting a three-month low in early March, a boost for
companies which have significant offshore earnings such as
Honda Motor <7267.T>.
The dollar inched up 0.1 percent from late U.S. trade to
90.62 yen <JPY=>, within sight of a two-week peak of 90.83 yen
hit on trading platform EBS on Wednesday.
The euro struck a two-week high at 124.15 yen <EURJPY=R> on
EBS in early trade.
FUNDS LIKE JAPAN
Japan equity funds have attracted net inflows for the past
11 straight weeks, the longest streak in almost three years,
according to funds flow tracking firm EPFR Global.
MSCI's index of other Asia Pacific shares <.MIAPJ0000PUS>
was barely moved on the day, rising less than 0.1 percent and
up around 1.9 percent for the week.
"Broader market sentiment has been improving in recent
sessions as key uncertainties such as southern European debt
issues have eased," said Han Beom-ho, a market analyst at
Shinhan Investment Corporation in South Korea.
Wall Street also provided support, with the S&P 500 Index
<.SPX> hitting a 17-month closing high on Thursday.
Banks led a late U.S. rally after bipartisan Senate talks
aimed at developing legislation to overhaul U.S. financial
regulation collapsed. []
S&P stock futures have now risen for 10 straight days for
only the second time since 1987 this has happened.
Stock market gains weighed on government debt, with
Japanese government bonds falling. The benchmark 10-year yield
<JP10YTN=JBTC> climbed 2 basis points to 1.335 percent, its
highest in a week.
Commodity markets were little moved on Friday, with oil
<CLc1> edging up eight cents to $82.19 and spot gold <XAU=>
hovering around $1,110 an ounce.
Crude hit an eight-week high of $83.03 on Wednesday
(Additional reporting by Aiko Hayashi in TOKYO and Jungyoun
Park in SEOUL; Editing by Kazunori Takada)
