Global stocks rise to six-week high on Fed view, higher oil prices

MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan fell 0.5 percent while Japan's Nikkei dropped 1.4 percent to near-two-month lows, with financials coming under pressure. (A pedestrian walks past a stock markets indicator board in Tokyo, Japan, 05 April 2016. - EPA)

Crude oil futures traded above the psychologically important US$50 mark, touching a 2016 high, supported by a weaker U.S. dollar, which wallowed near a four-week low.