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Singapore - Asian shares rose to their highest in nearly 3 years on Monday after strong US jobs growth spurred optimism about the global economy, while the euro hit an 11-month peak against the yen amid expectations of a eurozone rate hike later this week.
But European shares were seen dipping after hefty gains at the end of last week, with investors turning more cautious ahead of policy meetings later in the week by the European Central Bank and Bank of England.
"As the economy turns the corner and gets back on its feet, central bankers are beginning to see inflation as a greater threat than lack of growth," said Jonathan Sudaria, dealer at Capital Spreads.
Bookmakers called the major European indexes to open down 0.2% - 0.5%, while S&P 500 futures eased 0.2%, pointing to a weaker start for US shares.
US crude oil rose to its highest in two-and-a-half years as unrest in the Middle East and fighting in Libya stoked fears of supply disruptions. Gold edged up, supported by crude prices and the stronger euro.
Data showing US employment grew solidly for a second month in March boosted Wall Street on Friday. Investors interpreted it as a sign of a strengthening economic recovery, although most analysts did not expect it to prompt the Federal Reserve to change its ultra-loose monetary policy for the time being.
In contrast, the ECB Bank is seen as almost certain to raise borrowing costs by 25 basis points on Thursday, supporting the single currency despite worries about the crushing debt burden of some eurozone countries.
Most Asian central banks - with the major exception of Japan - have already begun tightening due to concerns about inflation and asset bubbles, contributing to a patchy performance of the region's equity markets so far this year.
"Share market valuation is at best neutral for Asia-ex-Japan but rising inflation and worries about policy tightening means that returns could lag the rest of the world this year," said Andrew Pease, chief investment strategist Asia-Pacific at Russell Investments.
Uncertain outlook
Japan's Nikkei gave up some early gains to finish up 0.1%, supported by gains on Wall Street on Friday, when the S&P 500 rose 0.5%.
"Firmness in US shares and the weakness of the yen, especially against the euro, encouraged buying in the export-related sector," said Mitsushige Akino, chief fund manager at Ichiyoshi Investment Management in Tokyo.
The weakening yen may help Japanese exporters, although the outlook for Japan remains clouded by uncertainty over the full cost of a devastating earthquake and tsunami on March 11.
Big Japanese manufacturers expect business conditions to worsen in the next three months, responses to a Bank of Japan survey collected after the quake showed, as rolling power blackouts and a nuclear safety crisis threaten to delay the return to a moderate economic recovery.
Although it has recovered more than two-thirds of the ground lost during its steep tumble in the aftermath of the quake, the Nikkei remains around 5% below its March 11 close.
MSCI's broadest index of Asia Pacific shares outside Japan rose 0.6% and touched its highest level since May 2008, its second near 3-year peak in as many sessions.
Emerging markets - led by Asia - saw their first monthly gain of the year in March, outperforming world and developed market stocks for the first time since September, strategists at Citi said in a note.
Data from fund tracker EPFR Global on Friday showed investors returning to emerging market equity funds, with the end of March seeing the second largest weekly inflow this year, although the first quarter still showed the largest outflow since the third quarter of 2008.
Euro gains
The euro traded around ¥119.80, after breaching the ¥120 level for the first time since last May. The dollar was steady at ¥84.15, having reached a six-month high around ¥84.72 on Friday.
Investors are positioning for an increase in the ECB's key interest rate to 1.25%, widening the euro zone's yield advantage over the United States, Britain and Japan, where policy rates remain at record lows.
The euro slid around 20% against the dollar between November 2009 and the middle of last year, but has been on a broadly appreciating trend since then.
Against the dollar, the single currency hit a five-month high against of $1.4269 on trading platform EBS earlier on Monday, having gained a lift from some stop-loss buying, traders said, and was later buying around $1.4230 .
"Coming into the ECB meeting this week, we have to anticipate further euro gains," said Todd Elmer, currency strategist at Citi in Singapore.
The Bank of Japan is likely to downgrade its economic assessment this week, which is likely to weigh on the yen. The currency has been under pressure since a rare coordinated G7 intervention to weaken it last month.
Market players have even started talking about a return of the yen "carry trade", the strategy of using cheap yen loans to fund investments in higher yielding assets or currencies.
US crude oil edged up 0.4% to $108.34 a barrel, having risen as high as $108.74 earlier in the session, while Brent crude was up 0.4% at $119.15. Gold traded around $1 430 an ounce.
"We have supply concerns which we haven't had for the last few years and this is mostly related to Libya now," said John Vautrain of energy consultancy Purvin and Gertz. "The tension has disrupted crude supplies, and that is affecting Europe."
Japanese government bond 10-year futures were little changed ahead of a ¥2.2 trillion auction on Tuesday, seen as a litmus test of investor appetite in the new financial year, while the benchmark 10-year yield rose 1.5 basis point to 1.29%.
