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By Bloomberg

Asian stocks pared their second weekly advance as Japanese shares fluctuated around a 15-year high and investors considered the outlook for Hong Kong equities amid this week’s surge. Australia’s dollar gained with oil.

The MSCI Asia Pacific Index fell 0.1 percent by 10:02 a.m. in Tokyo, dropping for the first time in seven days, though still headed for a 2.6 percent weekly gain. Japan’s Nikkei 225 Stock Average retreated after earlier breaching 20,000 points for the first time since 2000, while Korean shares jumped. Standard & Poor’s 500 Index futures lost 0.1 percent. The Aussie rose a fourth day. U.S. oil headed for a fourth weekly gain.

The value of global equities rose to a record $69.8 trillion this week, as Hong Kong stocks soared amid frenzied buying by mainland Chinese investors and speculation the government will do more to support growth in the world’s No. 2 economy. Stimulus from Asia to Europe is spurring stock gains, even as the U.S. heads toward tightening policy as soon as this year. China reports on consumer and producer prices Friday.

“This phenomenon of a large amount of money pushing into a space in the market in such a short period of time is exaggerating moves,” Tim Schroeders, a portfolio manager who helps oversee about $1 billion in equities at Pengana Capital Ltd. in Melbourne, said by phone. “It looks highly speculative and prone to a correction at some stage. There seems to be a lot of speculation fueling fund flows in terms of policy stimulus from China which may or may not happen.”

Japan Moves

The Nikkei 225 was down 0.1 percent after rising as much as 0.3 percent to 20,006, the first time it’s breached 20,000 since April 2000. Japan’s broader Topix index lost 0.3 percent, still headed for a weekly advance of 1.6 percent, the most since February. The Kospi index in Seoul added 0.8 percent to its highest level since August, while Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 Index swung between gains and losses.

Futures on Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index climbed 1.8 percent in most recent trading, and contracts on the Hang Seng China Enterprises Index, which tracks mainland shares listed in the city, jumped 2.1 percent. The index is up 8.6 percent in this holiday-shortened week, reaching its highest level since November 2010 on Thursday. FTSE China A50 Index futures in Singapore rose 0.6 percent.

All of the top 10 biggest gainers over the past five days in the MSCI Asia-Pacific gauge have been Hong Kong-listed shares.

Currency Intervention

The Hong Kong dollar was little changed early Friday at HK$7.75 a dollar after the city’s monetary authority intervened for the first time since August 2014 to stem gains. Hong Kong’s de facto central bank said it bought $400 million Thursday at HK$7.75 a dollar, the upper limit of a convertibility range that triggers intervention. Gains in the stock market fueled demand for the currency, the Hong Kong Monetary Authority said in an e- mailed statement.

Australia’s dollar added 0.3 percent to 77.14 U.S. cents and has strengthened 1.1 percent this week, one of only two gainers among 16 major currencies against the dollar. The country reports on home and investment lending Friday, while Malaysia updates factory output and India posts local car sales.

The yen was little changed at 120.47 per dollar after falling to 120.74 last session, its weakest intraday level since March 20. Japan’s currency has lost 1.3 percent to the greenback this week.

The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index, which tracks the U.S. currency versus 10 peers, was down 0.2 percent after jumping 0.8 percent Thursday. It remains track for a weekly gain of 1.5 percent, its first in four weeks.

Fed Minutes

Fewer Americans filed jobless claims in the past four weeks than at any time in almost 15 years, a report Thursday showed. The data came a day after minutes of the Fed’s last meeting suggested the first rate increase since 2006 is still on the table for this year.

The record of the meeting, held before the release of last week’s weaker-than-forecast payrolls data, showed officials were split on when U.S. rates would be raised. While several policy makers pushed to increase borrowing costs in June, others argued for later this year and a couple favored holding off until 2016.

The dollar index has gained 6.1 percent this year as the Fed’s intention to tighten policy contrasted with easing and stimulus elsewhere.

West Texas Intermediate crude was little changed at $50.80 a barrel after rising 0.7 percent Thursday. WTI has climbed 3.4 percent this week, trimming its 2015 drop to 4.6 percent.

Iran, which reached a preliminary nuclear accord with global powers on April 2 that could lead to oil exports flowing more freely, will only sign a deal that secures the lifting of all sanctions, President Hassan Rouhani said on TV Thursday.

Oil dropped the most in two months on Wednesday after U.S. Energy Information Administration data showed stockpiles surged by 10.95 million barrels last week, further expanding record supplies.