By Alun John

HONG KONG (Reuters) – Asian shares moved higher on Thursday, supported by some positive news from struggling developer China Evergrande Group, while the dollar held near a one-month top after the U.S. Federal Reserve took a hawkish tilt overnight.

Investors remained cautious over Evergrande’s fate, though a significant test will come on Thursday, when the $83.5million in interest payments from dollar-bond bonds is due.

Kerry Craig of JP Morgan Asset Management, global market strategist said “It’s still a long road to go before this is resolved.” Although some fears about a major collapse or contagion will begin to fade, the issue of property markets and construction being a large part of the Chinese economy and market for building and real estate is still very relevant.

Evergrande shares shot up 23% Thursday following a statement by a unit that on Wednesday the Hong Kong stock exchange was closed due to holiday closures, it said that they had resolved a coupon payment for an offshore bond.

The Hong Kong benchmark rose 1.6%, boosting MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan, which gained 0.64%

Elsewhere, Chinese blue chips gained 0.74%, Australia’s benchmark rose 1.04%, and Korea’s Kospi fell 0.6% after returning from a three-day break to catch up with global falls earlier in the week.

U.S. stock markets, The, rose 0.31%.

The fear that Evergrande may not meet its obligations rattled global markets this week. Traders worried that Evergrande’s troubles could spread to other banks and property developers. The People’s Bank of China, which injected 90 billion Yuan ($13.9 million) into the banking sector on Wednesday helped to ease concerns.

Investors also paid attention to the U.S. Federal Reserve. It indicated overnight that it would likely start reducing monthly bond purchases in November, and suggested that interest rates may rise sooner than anticipated.

Craig stated that the most surprising thing about what was revealed by the Fed was how much the market accepted it.

Closed up by 1% the three largest U.S. stockindices, they are not too far from where they were prior to the Fed announcement. U.S. Treasury Yields seesawed and then took the Fed announcement in their stride. ()

The dollar rose after the Fed Chair’s remarks hitting a month-high of 93.526 against a basket of currencies particularly gaining against the euro and yen, but paused for breath in Asian hours

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