Asia shares rally on Fed rate cut bets, yen pares gains

News Snapshot:

Asian stocks have risen on renewed bets the Federal Reserve would likely ease rates this year, while the yen weakened after a strong surge last week from Tokyo's suspected currency intervention. Trading was thinned in Asia on Monday with Japan out for a holiday, though markets in mainland China got off to an upbeat start after returning from an extended break. MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan edged more than 0.5 per cent higher, while China's blue-chip index gained 1.4 per cent. Chinese shares offshore posted strong gains last week while mainland markets were closed from Wednesday to...