Tokyo — Asian shares turned lower on Thursday after earlier briefly nudging up to almost two-year highs, while the dollar benefited from the waning expectation that the European Central Bank (ECB) was poised to end its easy policy. MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan was down 0.3%, stepping back from morning trade when it nudged close its loftiest levels since June 2015. Australian shares firmed 0.3%, helped by an overnight gain in oil prices. Strong energy shares had helped the US S&P 500 end higher overnight. The Federal Reserve’s monetary outlook and policy making under US President Donald Trump have held sway in financial markets over the past few months. While investors have more or less come to terms with rising rates in the US, concerns remain around the Trump administration’s ability to set US growth on a higher gear. Last week’s failure of Trump’s US healthcare reform bill reinforced those doubts. The dollar index, which tracks the US currency against...
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