Nov. 5 (Bloomberg) -- Japanese stock futures and Australian shares gained after the U.S. Federal Reserve said it will keep interest rates near zero for “an extended period” to aid the economic recovery.

U.S.-traded receipts of Sharp Corp., Japan’s biggest maker of liquid-crystal displays and which derives more than half of its revenue from overseas, added 0.7 percent from the closing share price in Tokyo yesterday. Those of Nissan Motor Co., Japan’s third-biggest automaker, gained 2.6 percent after the company narrowed its full-year net loss forecast. Newcrest Mining Ltd., Australia’s largest gold producer, rose 1.1 percent in Sydney today after prices for the metal climbed to a record.

Futures on Japan’s Nikkei 225 Stock Average expiring in December closed at 9,860 in Chicago yesterday, up from 9,835 in Singapore. They were bid at 9,870 in the pre-market in Osaka, Japan, at 8:07 a.m. local time. Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 Index gained 0.3 percent today in Sydney. New Zealand’s NZX 50 Index added 0.1 percent in Wellington.

“With the excess liquidity from the low interest rates in the U.S., we can expect some risk money to flow into export and commodity-related stocks,” said Mitsushige Akino, who manages the equivalent of $666 million at Tokyo-based Ichiyoshi Investment Management Co. in Japan.

In New York, the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index rose 0.1 percent yesterday. The Federal Reserve repeated it will keep interest rates near zero for “an extended period” and specified for the first time that policy will stay unchanged as long as inflation expectations are stable and unemployment fails to decline.

To contact the reporter for this story: Kana Nishizawa in Tokyo at knishizawa5@bloomberg.net; Satoshi Kawano in Tokyo skawano1@bloomberg.net.

Last Updated: November 4, 2009 18:35 EST