Asian stocks set for best week in two months; dollar heavy

Asian stock markets were on course for their best week in months and the dollar held off recent record highs after the European Central Bank (ECB) raised rates for the first time in more than a decade and bets on the size of US rate hikes eased.

Japan's Nikkei (.N225) rose 0.24 per cent on Friday and was on course to make gains for a seventh successive day. It's likely to be the index's best week since March, reports Reuters.

MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan (.MIAPJ0000PUS) fell 0.03 per cent, but the index is still set for its best week in about two months.

The euro was trading at $1.019 and on course for its biggest weekly rise against the dollar since late May, after having dipped below parity last week.

The ECB raised interest rates by a bigger-than-expected 50 basis points to zero percent overnight, its first hike in 11 years and ending a policy of negative interest rates that had been in place since 2014.