Asian shares edged up on Wednesday after a modestly high finish on Wall Street that extended the market’s gains into a fourth week.
The Nikkei 225 index rose 0.6 per cent despite news that Japan’s exports sank 8.4 per cent in January from a year earlier, far more than forecast.
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index jumped 0.7 per cent, while the Shanghai Composite slipped 0.2 per cent.
South Korea’s Kospi jumped 0.9 per cent to 2,225.67 and the S&P ASX 200 slipped 0.4 per cent to 6,084.10, reports AP.
The benchmark S&P 500 index gained 0.1 per cent to 2,779.76, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average was almost flat at 25,891.32.
The Nasdaq composite added 0.2 per cent to 7,486.77. The Russell 2000 index of smaller companies picked up 0.3 per cent, to 1,574.47.
Major European indexes finished mostly lower.
The dollar rose to 110.79 yen from 110.63 yen on Tuesday. The euro strengthened to $1.1345 from $1.1343.
US benchmark crude gained 22 cents to $56.67 per barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. It rose 0.8 per cent to settle at $56.45 a barrel on Tuesday.
Brent crude, the standard for international oil prices, added 7 cents to $66.52 per barrel.