Strong dollar lifts Japan shares, crimps commodities

The strength of the U.S. currency pressured commodity prices and helped drag oil off an 18-month top, but gave Japan's exporter-heavy stock market a fillip. The Nikkei climbed 2.1 percent, recovering from two sessions of losses as domestic data showed factory activity expanded at the fastest pace in a year. MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan was up 0.1 percent and trying to string together a seventh straight session of gains.