Asian shares rally on strong weekly gains

Asian shares rose to eight-month high on Friday on the back of strong weekly gains.

Record highs on Wall Street offset the impact of the terror attack in France that made yen appreciate marginally, a Reuters report stated.

At least 73 are feared dead and injured more as an attacker drove a truck at high speed into a crowd watching Bastille Day fireworks in the French Riviera city of Nice late on Thursday.

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The Bank of England on Thursday surprised many investors by leaving interest rates unchanged instead of cutting to reduce the economic impact of Britain`s vote last month to leave the European Union.

The pound was up 0.6% at $1.3417.

MSCI`s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan was up 0.2 % in early trade.

It gained more than 4% for the week which were its highest since November last year, Reuters report stated.

Japan`s Nikkei edged up 0.8%, poised for a weekly gain of over 9 %.

SGX Nifty opened in green, with the index trading at 8,619.00 points at 8:24 am IST.

Hang Seng also edged up at 0.64% and was trading at 21,699.88 points in early trade on Friday.

Brent crude futures slipped 0.9 % to $46.96 a barrel, while U.S. crude fell 0.9 % to $45.28.

Oil prices gave up some of their overnight gains in early trading, after rising 2 percent on Thursday as traders covered short positions after data showing weak U.S. fuel demand, Reuters report stated.