2014.03.0505:41:22UTC+00Asian stocks leap on Ukraine relief

Asian shares bounced following a sharp fall on Wednesday, after Russian President Vladimir Putin's statements relieved woes of an imminent military conflict and revitalized risk appetite. 

Putin said Russia has the right to use all choices to safeguard compatriots who were living in fright in Ukraine, but that force was not the immediate need for now. With caution over the Ukraine easing for now, focus went back to fundamentals, denoting Thursday's European Central Bank monetary policy meeting and Friday's US nonfarm payrolls report.

MSCI's widest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan gained 0.6%. Tokyo's Nikkei sprung 1.5%. Amid the widespread relief, market watchers warned the crisis in Crimea was not yet over, cautioning of additional jolts for the financial markets ahead.

On Wednesday, China said it will keep its economic growth target for this year at about 7.5% as anticipated and push forward convertibility of yuan. The dollar index settled at 80.14, driving away from Friday's two-month low of 79.688. 

The euro was relatively flat on the day versus the greenback at $1.3734, below Friday's peak of $1.3825. The single currency was possibly to tread water before ECB monetary policy meeting on Thursday. The ECB could take measures to hype the region's recoup, as euro zone inflation has been running well below the ECB's target of below 2%.