Gold, copper hit records; silver leaps
JGB yields strike decade highs
Global shares hover just below peaks

SINGAPORE, May 20 Reuters Asian shares hit two year highs while copper and gold struck records on Monday as investors wagered on interest rate cuts around the corner and China stepping up efforts to steady its ailing property sector.

Brent crude futures rose to a oneweek high of 84.25 a barrel after a helicopter crash killed Iran39;s president and Saudi Arabian state news flagged a health issue for the king, threatening fresh instability in the Middle East.

Gold climbed more than 1 to 2,449.89 and copper futures surged nearly 7 in Shanghai to a record 88,940 yuan a tonne and fetched 11,104.50 in London .

ANZ analysts pointed to tight supply and signs of resilient global growth as helping copper and noted record firstquarter imports of 566 tonnes of gold into China as supporting prices.

MSCI39;s broadest index of AsiaPacific shares outside Japan was up 0.4, Japan39;s Nikkei rose 0.7 and hit a fiveweek high and world shares were within a whisker of last week39;s record peaks.

SP 500 futures rose 0.1, as did FTSE futures and European futures .

China announced historic steps on Friday to stabilise its property sector, with the central bank facilitating 1 trillion yuan 138 billion in extra funding and local governments set to buy some apartments. It left benchmark rates on hold, as expected.

After last week cheering a slowdown in U.S. inflation and European…