Asian shares
edged up on Tuesday, on track for a winning month and bolstered by gains
on Wall Street as investors awaited a speech by U.S. President Donald
Trump for signals on tax reform and infrastructure spending.
MSCI's
broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan was up 0.2 percent,
up 3.6 percent this month nearly 10 percent for the year so far.
Australia's S&P/ASX 200 index was up 0.4 percent as financial shares gained, while China's Shanghai Composite Index added 0.3 percent.
Japan's Nikkei stock index got a tailwind from a weaker yen and rose 0.8 percent, on track to gain more than 1 percent for February and 0.7 percent for the year to date.
The dollar edged down 0.1 percent to 112.62 yen but still held above Monday's nadir of 111.920, which was its lowest since Feb. 9. The euro was steady on the day at $1.0586.
Hawkish comments from a U.S. Federal Reserve official also bolstered U.S. Treasury yields and underpinned the dollar.
Dallas Fed President Robert Kaplan said on Monday that the Fed might need to raise interest rates in the near future to avoid falling behind the curve on inflation.
The yield on benchmark 10-year U.S. Treasuries, which had slumped to more than five-week lows last week, stood at 2.370 percent in Asian trade, compared to their U.S. close of 2.367 percent on Monday.
Crude oil prices were largely steady, as expectations of higher U.S. crude production offset reports of high compliance with OPEC's production cut agreement.
U.S. crude was up 0.2 percent on the day at $54.18 per barrel, while Brent crude added 0.3 percent to $56.10.
Spot gold edged up slightly to $1,253.06 an ounce but remained shy of a 3-1/2-month peak scaled on Monday as investors awaited Trump's speech.
Australia's S&P/ASX 200 index was up 0.4 percent as financial shares gained, while China's Shanghai Composite Index added 0.3 percent.
Japan's Nikkei stock index got a tailwind from a weaker yen and rose 0.8 percent, on track to gain more than 1 percent for February and 0.7 percent for the year to date.
The dollar edged down 0.1 percent to 112.62 yen but still held above Monday's nadir of 111.920, which was its lowest since Feb. 9. The euro was steady on the day at $1.0586.
Hawkish comments from a U.S. Federal Reserve official also bolstered U.S. Treasury yields and underpinned the dollar.
Dallas Fed President Robert Kaplan said on Monday that the Fed might need to raise interest rates in the near future to avoid falling behind the curve on inflation.
The yield on benchmark 10-year U.S. Treasuries, which had slumped to more than five-week lows last week, stood at 2.370 percent in Asian trade, compared to their U.S. close of 2.367 percent on Monday.
Crude oil prices were largely steady, as expectations of higher U.S. crude production offset reports of high compliance with OPEC's production cut agreement.
U.S. crude was up 0.2 percent on the day at $54.18 per barrel, while Brent crude added 0.3 percent to $56.10.
Spot gold edged up slightly to $1,253.06 an ounce but remained shy of a 3-1/2-month peak scaled on Monday as investors awaited Trump's speech.
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