Asia shares gain ahead of Yellen speech

Hong Kong - Asian shares gained on Friday after the S&P 500 index notched up a new record high, as traders awaited a keynote speech by the Federal Reserve chief for clues on the timing of interest rate hikes.

Hong Kong added 0.33%, Sydney was 0.29% higher, Seoul climbed 0.63% while Tokyo was up slightly and Shanghai traded flat.

The gains followed a rally on Wall Street as investors shrugged off geopolitical concerns, cheered by fresh signs of strength in the US economy.

The broad-based S&P added 0.29% to hit a record 1 992.37, while the blue-chip Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 0.36% to 17 039.49.

The tech-rich Nasdaq Composite rose 0.12% to 4 532.10, its highest level in 14 years.

Investors took encouragement from a host of positive data on the US economy, including a pick-up in existing-home sales in July and a downturn in new claims for unemployment insurance.

All eyes were on the Fed's annual monetary policy meeting in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, where the heads of the US and euro zone central banks will speak.

Fed chair Janet Yellen is scheduled to speak first, at 16:00 on Friday, followed by Mario Draghi, the European Central Bank president, at 20:30.

Investors will be closely monitoring Yellen's speech for any hint of a change to the Fed's interest rate plans.

Last month Yellen told Congress the Fed would hold its near-zero interest rate policy until the US economy strengthens, but may raise rates if the jobs market continues to improve.

"This forum has been known to signal the Fed's intentions and at the very least guide market direction with regards to policy. So there is often a lot of anticipation," the National Australia Bank said in a note.

The dollar held on to its gains ahead of the symposium, changing hands at ¥103.90 in morning Asian trade, compared with ¥103.85 in New York on Thursday afternoon.

The euro was mixed, buying $1.3276 and ¥137.95 against $1.3280 and ¥137.91 in US trade.

On the oil markets, US benchmark West Texas Intermediate dipped 16 cents to $93.80 while Brent crude was down 17c at $102.46

Gold traded at $1 278.80 an ounce at 04:55 compared to $1 282.27 an ounce late on Thursday.