Tokyo — Asian shares edged up on Monday on optimism about global growth, while the dollar was on the defensive as a subdued US inflation outlook capped US bond yields and raised questions about the Federal Reserve’s plans to tighten policy. MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan ticked up 0.4% while Japan’s Nikkei rose 0.1%. Trading was slow with many markets in the region closed for holidays to celebrate the end of Ramadan. The prospect of solid global economic growth has kept alive investors’ optimism over world equities even as some markets, including Wall Street, have slowed down from a frenetic run due to high valuations. Share prices have also been supported by relatively loose monetary policies in the developed world, with the Bank of Japan (BoJ) and the European Central Bank (ECB) still pumping in funds. While the US Federal Reserve is gradually tightening its policy, investors think the pace of its tightening will be much slower than its policy makers wa...
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