* Dealers eye U.S. Fed statement
* Crown Resorts hits near 8-week high
By Shashwat Awasthi
April 29 (Reuters) - Australian shares advanced on Wednesday as risk sentiment improved on phased easing of coronavirus-driven lockdowns around the world, while Crown Resorts surged 12% after Blackstone (NYSE:BX) bought a stake in the casino operator.
The S&P/ASX 200 index .AXJO rose 0.4% to 5,333.1 points by 0022 GMT.
All but two sub-sectors logged gains on the bourse, with heavyweight financial stocks .AXFJ adding 2.1% and an index of energy stocks .AXEJ rising 2.5%.
Shares of Crown Resorts CWN.AX topped gains on the benchmark as they rose to their highest since March 6 after the company said U.S. private equity firm Blackstone BX.N bought a 9.99% stake in the casino operator from Melco Resorts MLCO.O . confidence has been lifted in recent sessions as major countries and several U.S. states reopen for business and central banks seem poised to inject more stimulus to offset the economic hit from the pandemic.
After the Bank of Japan announced further measures this week, the U.S. Federal Reserve will issue a policy statement on Wednesday, while the European Central Bank meets Thursday.
Overnight, the U.S. Dow Jones Industrial Average .DJI fell 0.13%, the S&P 500 .SPX lost 0.52%, while Nasdaq .IXIC lost 1.40%, after a mixed bag of corporate earnings. .N
The Aussie dollar AUD= was 0.28% weaker against the U.S. dollar to A$0.65 on Wednesday.
Brent crude LCOc1 futures rose 1.76% to $20.82 a barrel, while U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude CLc1 gained 8.35% to $13.37 per barrel.
Gold XAU= fell 0.09% to $1,706.00.
The number of issues on the ASX that advanced were 545 while 324 declined as a 1.7-to-1 ratio favoured advancers. There were 58 new highs and 54 new lows.
Across the Tasman Sea, the New Zealand benchmark S&P/NZX 50 index .NZ50 fell 0.4% to 10,719.9 points.