Asia defies Wall Street weakness but economy, election worries cap gains

SINGAPORE/NEW YORK - Asian stocks inched up on Friday, despite Wall Street declines, but struggled to make deeper gains as worries about a faltering economic recovery kept investors to the sidelines or seeking safer harbour in assets such as the Japanese yen. Oil prices held hefty overnight gains after OPEC flagged a crackdown on member states that did not cut output and the dollar was back to nursing losses after a brief journey higher in the wake of Wednesday’s Federal Reserve meeting. MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan looked set to end the...