Asian stocks rose on Friday with the MSCI Asia-Pacific shares up 0.44%, halting a two-week slump despite US regional banks being deep in trouble following the collapse of First Republic Bank during the weekend. As a result of this, some are predicting rate cuts from the US Federal Reserve, which will be confirmed following the release of April’s non-farm payroll data. In Europe, the European Central Bank raised interest rates to 3.25% and signalled that further tightening should be expected. Meanwhile, gold is hovering around record levels at over $2,050 an ounce.