BANGKOK — Shares advanced Friday in Asia, tracking a rally on Wall Street after a group of big banks offered a lifeline to First Republic Bank, the lender investors had focused on in their latest hunt for troubles in the banking industry.
Benchmarks rose more than 1% in Hong Kong, Taiwan and Tokyo. U.S. futures were mixed and oil prices climbed.
The S&P 500 jumped 1.8% Thursday, erasing earlier losses following reports that First Republic Bank could get help or sell itself to another bank. Markets have gyrated this week on concerns over the toll on banks from the fastest set of interest rate hikes in decades. The turmoil flared with last week’s collapse of Silicon Valley Bank, the second largest bank failure in U.S. history.
“The market remains cautious; traders do not want to get overexcited, especially with investors still focusing on what can go wrong instead of what could go…
