Asian shares advance after oil climbs back above $100

BANGKOK (AP) — Shares advanced in most Asian markets on Friday after Wall Street extended a rally into a third day and oil prices pushed past $105 per barrel.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy called for more help for his country after days of bombardment of civilian sites in multiple cities over the past few days.

The war, and plans for President Joe Biden to speak with Chinese President Xi Jinping later Friday were among the uncertainties overhanging markets.

The White House said the conversation will center on “managing the competition between our two countries as well as Russia’s war against Ukraine and other issues of mutual concern.”

Wrapping up a two-day meeting, the Bank of Japan opted to keep its monetary policy unchanged, with its benchmark interest rate at minus 0.1%. Japan's central bank has been keeping interest rates ultra low and pumping tens of billions of dollars into the world's third largest economy for years, trying to spur faster growth.

Tokyo's Nikkei 225 index rose 0.7% to 26,827.43 and the S&P/ASX 200 in Sydney gained 0.6%, to 7,294.40.

Hong Kong's Hang Seng regained lost ground, gaining 0.5% to 21,587.19 after barreling sharply higher for two days after Chinese leaders promised to provide more support for the economy and markets, suggesting Beijing might temper its crackdowns on technology and real estate companies.

The Shanghai Composite index added 1.3% to 3,254.96.

On Wall Street, the S&P 500 climbed 1.2% on Thursday, closing at 4,411.67, after surging more than 2% in each of the prior two days for its best back-to-back performance in nearly two years.

Big swings in markets have become the norm as investors struggle to handicap what will happen to the economy and the world’s already high inflation because of Russia’s invasion...