Asian markets climb after 'forward guidance' day in UK and Europe

Asian equity markets have followed their European counterparts higher in overnight trading, but investor attention is now firmly focused on the US once again.

The MSCI Asia Pacific rose 0.8% to 131.65, and now stands up 1% on the week, as investors continue to digest the Bank of England and European Central Bank's attempts to counter rises in market interest rates. The MSCI rise was accompanied by a 2.1% rise in Japan's Nikkei 225 to 14,309, with the yen weakening and the US dollar strengthening as investors bank on a strong US jobs report later today. Yesterday, in a move seen as a response to the back-up in yields observed over the past month after Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke hinted at a slowdown in US quantitative easing, ECB p...