(Updates at 0510 GMT)

By Ankur Banerjee

SINGAPORE, May 3 (Reuters) - Asian stocks surged to

their highest in 15 months on Friday led by tech and Hong Kong

stocks, while the yen put more distance from recent 34-year lows

to cap a tumultuous week that saw suspected intervention from

Japanese authorities.

With markets in Japan and mainland China closed on Friday,

regional trading activity is likely to be subdued as traders

look ahead to the U.S. nonfarm payrolls data later in the day.

MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan

surged to 550.49, its highest since February

2023 and was last up 1% at 547.72.

Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index rose 1%, on track for a

ninth consecutive day of gains and on its the longest winning

streak since January 2018.

European bourses are also set for a higher open, with

Eurostoxx 50 futures up 0.25%, German DAX futures

0.24% higher and FTSE futures up 0.15%.

The spotlight for much of this week has been on the yen

, which strengthened 0.43% to 152.99 per dollar on

Friday, having started the week by touching a 34-year low of

160.245 on Monday.

In between, traders suspect the authorities stepped in on at

least two days this week and data from the BOJ suggests Japanese

officials may have spent roughly $60 billion to defend the

beleaguered yen, leaving trading desks across the globe on high

alert foe further moves by Tokyo.

A series of Japanese public holidays as well as Monday's

holiday in the UK - the world's biggest FX trading centre -

could present a possible window for further intervention by

Tokyo. Japanese markets are also closed on Monday.

The yen has weakened for over a decade, largely due to low

Japanese interest rates drawing funds out of the country towards

higher yielding assets in other large economies including the

United States. Despite the sizable bounce in the yen this week,

it is still down 8% against the dollar this year.

While there have been two bouts of suspected MOF

interventions, another $20 billion of yen buying on Friday

would really scare off the yen shorts and get dollar/yen below

150, Chris Weston, head of research at Pepperstone, said in a

note.

"Good things come in threes, and while another bout of

intervention seems unlikely, the MOF/BOJ could turn momentum

trader and shake things up one last time ahead of nonfarm

payrolls."

The dollar index, which measures the U.S. currency

against six peers, was last at 105.24. The index is set to clock

a 0.8% decline for the week, its worst weekly performance since

early March.

The Federal Reserve this week left rates unchanged and

signalled that its next policy move will be to lower its rates,

though chair Jerome Powell noted that recent strong inflation

readings suggest the first of these cuts could be a long time

coming.

"The Federal Reserve has clearly had its confidence shaken

by the recent string of disappointing inflation releases," said

Susan Hill, senior portfolio manager at Federated Hermes.

While the bar for moving back to a tightening bias is quite

high, it seems likely that the current 5.25%-5.50% Fed Funds

target range will be unchanged for the next several months, Hill

said.

In after-market hours Apple ( AAPL ) reported quarterly

results and forecast that beat modest expectations and unveiled

a record share buyback program, sending its stock up almost 7%

in extended trade.

E-mini futures for the S&P 500 rose 0.29%, while

Nasdaq futures are up 0.58%.

U.S. economic data on Thursday also showed the labour market

remains tight, ahead of key government payrolls data due later

on Friday. Economists polled by Reuters forecast 243,000 jobs,

with estimates ranging from 150,000 to 280,000.

In commodities, U.S. crude rose 0.24% to $79.14 per

barrel and Brent was at $83.86, up 0.23% on the day.

Spot gold eased 0.1% to $2,300.75 an ounce and were

set for second straight weekly decline.

(Editing by Shri Navaratnam and Sam Holmes)