* Shanghai composite stocks index up 2.5 pct
* Chinese banking shares lead rally on inflation hopes
* Euro's overnight rally fizzles with Greece still a focus
* High yield bonds, emerging mkt equity funds see outflows-Lipper
By Saikat Chatterjee
HONG KONG, June 24 (Reuters) - Chinese stocks led Asian equity markets higher on Friday on hopes inflation will ease soon, though the euro's overnight rally fizzled, with Greece's deal with international lenders seen as only a short-term fix for a long-term crisis.
Asian stocks were broadly heading to their first weekly gains in nine weeks, and European shares were set to rise between 1 to 1.3 percent, according to financial bookmakers.
A jump in Chinese banking stocks on solid volume after Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao was quoted in a report saying inflation is being tamed made some analysts suspect that emerging Asian equities, which have been haunted by fears of lingering price pressures, might post a sustained rally.
"The market has been waiting for this for a long time," said Todd Martin, head of Asia equity strategy at Societe Generale in Hong Kong. "There's a sense that inflationary pressures might recede or decelerate."
The U.S. dollar was on course for its third straight week of strengthening against a basket of currencies as broader sentiment remained fragile after the U.S. Federal Reserve cut its forecasts for growth this year and data showed Chinese factory growth virtually stalled in June.
Crude oil rebounded from a four-month low below $106, rising nearly a dollar to above $108 per barrel.
The move from the International Energy Agency late Thursday to release emergency oil reserves for the third time in history has had a muted impact on energy counters with oil prices already more than 20 percent off their early May peaks.
Greece meanwhile reached an agreement with EU and IMF leaders on additional tax hikes and spending cuts to plug a 3.8 billion euro funding gap, paving the way for the disbursal of much-needed emergency funds in July.
CHINA STOCKS RALLY
The Shanghai composite index jumped 2.5 percent , on track for the biggest daily gain since February, bouncing back after plumbing a nine-month low on Monday.
Banks, which have been a big target of short sellers in Hong Kong, were the biggest supports for the benchmark index, with Bank of China Ltd up 2.5 percent and Industrial and Commercial Bank of China Ltd up 1.8 percent.
Japan's Nikkei and Korea's were up by 0.9 percent and 1.7 percent, respectively.
The MSCI index of Asia Pacific stocks outside Japan rose by 1.1 percent, with buying spread fairly evenly through the sectors.
In credit markets, high yield bond outflows intensified in the week to June 22 with investors pulling a record net $3.43 billion out of high yield bond funds, rotating cash into the relative safety of higher quality fixed income investments, Thomson Reuters Lipper data showed on Thursday.
Emerging market equity funds registered outflows, notching up their worst performance since the first week of March.
HSBC strategists are advising investors to adopt a more cautious approach on emerging market assets as they could suffer from capital outflows in the case of an external shock.
In currency markets, the euro was largely unchanged at $1.4258 on Thursday, though the underlying trend remained bearish. The single currency is down more than five percent from a two-year peak around $1.4940 hit in early May.
"Part of the reason the euro's bounce was so fast (on Thursday) was probably because there was some position unwinding ahead of the weekend," says Tsutomu Soma, senior manager for Okasan Securities' foreign securities department.
Spot gold steadied around $1,520 per ounce after falling two percent in the previous session while silver held above the $35 an ounce line.
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http://blogs.reuters.com/hedgehub (Editing by Kim Coghill)