Japan's Nikkei 225 rises nearly 2% as SoftBank Group shares surge more than 4%

SINGAPORE — Shares in Japan led gains in Asia-Pacific during Wednesday morning trade, as investors monitored oil prices and continued to assess the outlook for U.S. Federal Reserve monetary policy.

The Nikkei 225 rose 1.82% as shares of SoftBank Group jumped 4.96%, while the Topix index advanced 1.34%. South Korea's Kospi gained 0.94%.

Over in Australia, the S&P/ASX 200 climbed 0.53%.

MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan traded 0.27% higher.

Investors monitored moves in the oil markets, with sources telling CNBC that the European Union is unlikely to impose an immediate oil embargo on Russia over its unprovoked invasion of Ukraine.

In the morning of Asia trading hours on Wednesday, international benchmark Brent crude futures slipped 0.63% to $114.75 per barrel. U.S. crude futures shed 0.53% to $108.69 per barrel.

Oil prices have slipped after gains in the past few days, though Brent continues sitting above the $100 per barrel mark that it fell below last week.

Overnight on Wall Street, the S&P 500 climbed 1.13% to 4,511.61. The Dow Jones Industrial Average advanced 254.47 points, or 0.74%, to 34,807.46. The Nasdaq Composite surged 1.95% to 14,108.82.

Markets will continue to assess the outlook for U.S. Federal Reserve policy.

U.S. Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell said earlier this week that the central bank is set to take tough action on inflation, with traders now betting the Fed will drive up interest rates even faster than expected just last week.

The U.S. dollar index, which tracks the greenback against a basket of its peers, was at 98.492 following a recent drop from above 98.8.

The Japanese yen traded at 121.24 per dollar, weaker than levels below 120 seen against the greenback yesterday. The Australian dollar was at $0.7466, largely holding on to gains after yesterday's rise from around $0.738.