* Fed stance keeps risk appetite intact
* Dollar hits fresh three-year lows vs basket of currencies
* U.S. crude rises to 2-1/2 year peaks, gold at all-time
highs
* Earnings from major firms like Panasonic also eyed
By Ian Chua
SYDNEY, April 28 (Reuters) - The dollar slumped to
three-year lows on Thursday, U.S. crude hit a 2-1/2 year high
and Asian stocks rose after the U.S. central bank signalled it
was in no rush to scale back support for the economy, keeping
intact demand for riskier assets.
The Bank of Japan (BOJ) is also expected to maintain its
ultra loose monetary policy later in the day and indicate its
readiness to ease further if damage from last month's earthquake
proves bigger than expected.
Putting pressure on the BOJ to do more, latest data showed
Japanese factory output fell at a record pace in March.
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With the two major central banks keeping interest rates near
zero, investors are set to continue using the dollar and yen as
funding currencies to buy higher-yielding assets, commodities
and equities.
The U.S. Federal Reserve essentially gave a "green light" to
continue selling the U.S. dollar, as mounting risk appetite
continues to utilise ultra-accommodative U.S. monetary policy to
speculate in higher-yielding assets overseas, said Michael
Woolfolk, strategist at BNY Mellon.
"Despite increasing geopolitical risks and rising credit
default spreads in peripheral Europe, the trend remains your
friend in a weaker greenback," he wrote in a client note.
Japan's Nikkei average rose 0.8 percent, while
stocks elsewhere in Asia put on 0.75 percent,
nearing a three-year peak set a day earlier.
These gains followed a rally on Wall Street, where the U.S.
tech-heavy Nasdaq jumped to a 10-year high and the S&P
500 index rose to three-year highs.
Trading volume in Japan, however, is expected to be thin as
the Golden Week holidays loom and as investors awaited earnings
from the likes of Panasonic Corp and Honda Motor
<7267.t> due after the market close.
Japanese markets will be shut on Friday and will reopen on
Monday, ahead of more holidays next week.
"Investors want to see more earnings that are scheduled for
after the market closes. The market may stay strong all day, but
trading may be subdued," said Yumi Nishimura, a senior market
analyst at Daiwa Securities.
The dollar index , which tracks its performance
against a basket of major currencies, fell to as low as 73.091
-- a level not seen since July 2008.
The euro rose to a 16-month high of $1.4837 , further
spurred by stop-loss buying after a breach of option barriers
around $1.4800, while the Australian dollar touched a post-float
high of $1.0917 .
In the commodities market, U.S. crude <CLc1> rose to a 2-1/2
year high of $113.70 a barrel, and gold raced to a record
high near $1,530 an ounce. Copper gained more than 1
percent to around $9,425 a tonne.
(Additional reporting by Ayai Tomisawa; in Tokyo; Editing by
Ramya Venugopal)
