<p>Asian stocks were trying to get into a festive mood on Wednesday and managed small gains with even Japan's Nikkei lifting off a two-month low it hit following the Bank of Japan's surprise decision to loosen its tight leash on government bond yields.</p>.<p>MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan rose 0.6 per cent. Japan's Nikkei was down 0.2 per cent, paring earlier losses of around 1 per cent. Gold miners in Australia led a 1.3 per cent jump for the S&P/ASX 200.</p>.<p>Wall Street snapped a four-day losing streak overnight and S&P 500 futures rose 0.5 per cent in Asia trade.</p>.<p>On Tuesday the Bank of Japan (BOJ) widened its trading band for 10-year government bond yields from 25 basis points (bps) either side of zero to 50 bps.</p>.<p>That triggered a leap in the yen, which had spent most of the year sliding because of Japan's low yields, selling in Japan's stock market and a selloff for bonds around the world.</p>.<p>The resultant drop for the US dollar has spot gold prices testing six-month peaks and gold miners riding high. Newcrest rose 6 per cent in Sydney and smaller names even more. Global miners BHP and Rio Tinto rose 2 per cent.</p>.<p>Spot gold bought $1,816 an ounce.</p>.<p>"The tone is good, we're having our little version of a Santa Claus rally," said Damian Rooney, a dealer at Argonaut Securities in Perth, referring to typical late-December gains as markets drift toward the year end.</p>.<p>The yen mostly held on to large gains from Tuesday, at 132.09 per dollar, and traders were getting positioned for further dollar losses.</p>.<p>Some of the major drivers of dollar gains - an ever-weaker yen, a struggling Chinese yuan and outsized rises in US yields - are starting to shift. The euro held at $1.0625, not far from last week's six-month high.</p>.<p>Bond markets were kept under pressure as the last big central bank anchoring its bond market started to loosen its iron grip on yields.</p>.<p>Benchmark 10-year Treasury yields rose four bps to a three-week high of 3.722 per cent. Japanese 10-year yields rose 5.5 bps to 0.45 per cent, close to the BOJ's 0.5 per cent ceiling.</p>.<p>Brent crude futures hovered at $80.24 a barrel.</p>
<p>Asian stocks were trying to get into a festive mood on Wednesday and managed small gains with even Japan's Nikkei lifting off a two-month low it hit following the Bank of Japan's surprise decision to loosen its tight leash on government bond yields.</p>.<p>MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan rose 0.6 per cent. Japan's Nikkei was down 0.2 per cent, paring earlier losses of around 1 per cent. Gold miners in Australia led a 1.3 per cent jump for the S&P/ASX 200.</p>.<p>Wall Street snapped a four-day losing streak overnight and S&P 500 futures rose 0.5 per cent in Asia trade.</p>.<p>On Tuesday the Bank of Japan (BOJ) widened its trading band for 10-year government bond yields from 25 basis points (bps) either side of zero to 50 bps.</p>.<p>That triggered a leap in the yen, which had spent most of the year sliding because of Japan's low yields, selling in Japan's stock market and a selloff for bonds around the world.</p>.<p>The resultant drop for the US dollar has spot gold prices testing six-month peaks and gold miners riding high. Newcrest rose 6 per cent in Sydney and smaller names even more. Global miners BHP and Rio Tinto rose 2 per cent.</p>.<p>Spot gold bought $1,816 an ounce.</p>.<p>"The tone is good, we're having our little version of a Santa Claus rally," said Damian Rooney, a dealer at Argonaut Securities in Perth, referring to typical late-December gains as markets drift toward the year end.</p>.<p>The yen mostly held on to large gains from Tuesday, at 132.09 per dollar, and traders were getting positioned for further dollar losses.</p>.<p>Some of the major drivers of dollar gains - an ever-weaker yen, a struggling Chinese yuan and outsized rises in US yields - are starting to shift. The euro held at $1.0625, not far from last week's six-month high.</p>.<p>Bond markets were kept under pressure as the last big central bank anchoring its bond market started to loosen its iron grip on yields.</p>.<p>Benchmark 10-year Treasury yields rose four bps to a three-week high of 3.722 per cent. Japanese 10-year yields rose 5.5 bps to 0.45 per cent, close to the BOJ's 0.5 per cent ceiling.</p>.<p>Brent crude futures hovered at $80.24 a barrel.</p>