* MSCI Asia-Pacific index nears 2016 peak, Nikkei up 1.1 pct
* Spreadbetters see European stocks opening slightly lower
* Yen pounded by 'helicopter money' talk, sterling rebounds
* Crude slips after a big surge, zinc and nickel extend rally
* Philippine, Vietnam shares gain after South China sea ruling
By Shinichi Saoshiro and Hideyuki Sano
TOKYO, July 13 (Reuters) - Asian shares came within reach of their 2016 highs on Wednesday as prospects of solid U.S. growth and accommodative economic policy in major markets whet investors' risk appetite damaged by uncertainty from Brexit.
Spreadbetters expected European shares to take a breather following days of gains, forecasting a slightly lower open for Britain's FTSE, Germany's DAX and France's CAC . U.S. stock futures dipped 0.1 percent.
MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan rose as much as 0.4 percent to 427.83, just below its year-to-date high of 428.22 hit on April 21.
Japan's Nikkei gained 1.1 percent.
Australian stocks added 0.5 percent and South Korea's Kospi rose 0.6 percent. New Zealand shares inched down 0.1 percent but were near a record high struck Tuesday. Shanghai advanced 0.4 percent.
"A while ago, everything looked so uncertain on Brexit. But now that the UK looks set to have a new prime minister ... that is soothing investor sentiment," said Masahiro Ichikawa, senior strategist at Sumitomo Mitsui Asset Management.
Britain's interior minister Theresa May is set to take over as prime minister on Wednesday.
Elsewhere, Philippine shares reached a more than 1-year high and Vietnam scaled an 8-year peak.
In Japan, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe ordered a new round of fiscal stimulus spending, as expected, after an election victory on Sunday.
Abe's meeting on Tuesday with former U.S. Federal Reserve Chair Ben Bernanke, a proponent of "helicopter money" policies - printing money and directly handing it to the private sector to stimulate the economy - fuelled speculation that some of Abe's stimulus plan could be funded by the Bank of Japan's easing.
Such expectations pushed down the yen 4 percent over the last two days. The yen last traded at 104.22 yen to the dollar .
STIMULUS AWAITED
The Bank of England makes its policy announcement on Thursday, with some players expecting a rate cut.
The European Central Bank is also widely expected to take a dovish stance when it holds its policy review a week later.
"After being faced with the prospect of a major slowdown in global activity in the wake of the Brexit vote, governments and central banks worldwide are now expected to do their utmost to reassure markets and provide stimulus," wrote Angus Nicholson, market analyst at IG in Melbourne.