* MSCI Asia ex-Japan +1%; Nikkei hits 30-year high
* Hopes for vaccines, U.S. stimulus turbocharge sentiment
* Dollar rises on recovery expectations
By Andrew Galbraith and Imani Moise
SHANGHAI/NEW YORK, Jan 8 (Reuters) - Asian shares rose to record highs on Friday, with Japan's Nikkei hitting a three-decade peak as investors looked beyond rising coronavirus cases and political unrest in the United States to focus on hopes for an economic recovery later in the year.
The upbeat mood came after Wall Street hit record highs on Thursday while bond prices fell as markets bet a new Democratic-controlled government would lead to heavy spending and borrowing to support the U.S. economic recovery.
"Market participants are fairly optimistic with how things are progressing, whether it's in the political landscape, particularly of course in the United States the potential for more stimulus certainly is a boon to the economy," said James Tao, analyst at CommSec in Sydney. "You've got the vaccines now coming through, getting the approvals - it's all happening pretty quickly," he added.
The buoyant mood lifted MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan .MIAPJ0000PUS up 1%, touching a record high.
Seoul's Kospi .KS11 led the way, charging 2.8% higher, also to a record high. In Tokyo, the Nikkei .N225 added 1.73%, hitting its highest level since August 1990.
Hong Kong's Hang Seng .HSI rose 1.2% despite reports the Trump administration was considering banning U.S. entities from investing in an expanded list of Chinese companies in the waning days of the presidency, and despite the delisting of major Chinese telecoms firms from FTSE Russell and MSCI indexes. blue-chip shares .CSI300 were flat after recent gains and Australia's S&P/ASX 200 .AXJO rose only 0.48% after the state of Queensland enforced a three-day lockdown in its capital Brisbane following the discovery of a case of the more contagious UK variant of COVID-19. Thursday, the Dow Jones Industrial Average .DJI rose 0.69%, the S&P 500 .SPX gained 1.48% and the Nasdaq Composite .IXIC added 2.56% - with all three indexes finishing at record closing highs.
The gains follow expectations that Democratic control of both U.S. houses of Congress will help the party of President-elect Joe Biden push through larger fiscal stimulus and comes despite political unrest in Washington DC.
U.S. government officials have begun weighing removing President Donald Trump from office before Biden's inauguration date of Jan. 20, after Trump supporters stormed the U.S. Capitol building. risk appetite weighed on bonds, pushing benchmark U.S. yields higher. Ten-year notes US10YT=RR yielded 1.0998% on Friday, up from 1.017% on Thursday. The 30-year bond US30YT=RR yielded 1.8817%, up from 1.845% Thursday.
The dollar also strengthened on hopes of a meaningful economic recovery later this year.
The dollar index =USD edged up against a basket of currencies to 89.875 with the euro EUR= down 0.11% to $1.2256.
The greenback was up by a hair against the yen to 103.84. JPY=
"We're sure to see a synchronised global recovery in the second half of this year," said ING analyst Carsten Brzeski.
"Right now, there's lots of concern about the virus and noise surrounding the vaccine. But we need to take a slightly longer view."
Cryptocurrency bitcoin BTC=BTSP fared less well, dropping more than 5% to $37,377 after topping $40,000 for the first time on Thursday on high demand from institutional and retail investors. Market watchers have said a pullback is likely following its recent run-up. commodity markets, oil traders continued to focus on Saudi Arabia's pledge to deepen production cuts. crude LCOc1 was up 0.39% at $54.59 a barrel after touching $54.90, a high not seen since before the first COVID-19 lockdowns in the West. U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) CLc1 rose 0.45% to $51.06.
Spot gold XAU= was about 0.1% lower at $1,910.87 per ounce.
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