TOKYO: Japanese shares hit a new 15-year high on Wednesday on expectations of positive corporate earnings.
Japan’s Nikkei rose 0.7 percent to a high not seen since April 2000. South Korea’s Kospi gained 0.4 percent, while Australian shares slipped.
MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan fell 0.2 percent after rising 0.8 percent the previous day.
Asian equities have found support from Chinese measures to spur lending and combat a slowing economy. On Sunday, China’s central bank cut the reserve requirement ratio for the country’s lenders in the second reduction in two months.
US stocks were mixed overnight, with the Dow slipping on uninspiring earnings reports while the Nasdaq closed near a record high following a proposed biotech merger.
