Shutterstock photo(RTTNews.com) - Asian stocks finished broadly higher on Wednesday after solid earnings reports from heavyweights Caterpillar and 3M as well as promises of tax reform from the Trump administration helped the Dow Jones Industrial Average post its biggest gain in more than a month overnight.
Gold extended overnight losses on firmer equities and the dollar held near a three- month high versus the yen while oil prices held steady near four-week highs after Saudi Arabia's pledge to end a supply glut.
Japanese shares snapped a 16-day winning streak as investors cashed in on recent gains. The Nikkei average dropped 97.55 points or 0.45 percent to finish at 21,707.62, ending its longest winning streak on record. The broader Topix index closed 0.31 percent lower at 1,751.43.
Lender Mitsubishi UFJ Financial climbed 1.8 percent after U.S. 10-year Treasury note yields rose on the back of reports that Republican senators were leaning towards Stanford University economist John Taylor to be the next Fed Reserve chief.
China's Shanghai Composite index edged up 8.65 points or 0.26 percent to 3,396.90 as investors awaited the announcement by Chinese President Xi Jinping later in the day of new members of the Politburo Standing Committee, the country's supreme political body. Hong Kong's Hang Seng index was half a percent higher in late trade.
Australian shares eked out modest gains, led by mining and energy stocks after crude oil futures rose over 1 percent on Tuesday amid speculation that OPEC may extend production cuts next month.
The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 index inched up 8 points or 0.14 percent to 5,905.60 while the broader All Ordinaries index ended up 10.20 points or 0.17 percent at 5,972.70.
Miners BHP Billiton, Fortescue Metals Group and South32 rallied 1-3 percent while energy stocks such as Oil Search, Santos and Origin Energy climbed 1-2 percent. Stockland Corp shares jumped 3 percent after the property developer said it is on track to achieve its full-year guidance.
The big four banks pared early gains to finish on a flat note ahead of ANZ's annual results due on Thursday. Wesfarmers tumbled 2.9 percent after its food and liquor sales growth slowed in the first quarter.
The Aussie dollar hit a three-week low as weaker-than-expected inflation data dampened chances of a near-term interest rate hike.
Seoul stocks hit a fresh record high for a fourth straight session, with banks leading the surge on optimism over third-quarter earnings. The benchmark Kospi rose 2 points or 0.08 percent to 2,492.50, with KB Financial and Hana Financial rising 2-3 percent.
New Zealand shares finished slightly lower to snap a 15-day winning streak as Fletcher Building shares tumbled following another earnings downgrade after a $160 million loss in its building and interiors section.
The benchmark S&P NZX-50 index dropped 7.43 points or 0.09 percent to 8,122.67, with gains in retirement village stocks helping limit overall losses in the broader market. Fletcher Building shares fell 3.6 percent to $7.67.
Meanwhile, in her first major speech as Prime Minister-elect, Jacinda Ardern said the country's jobless rate should be below 4 percent.
India's Sensex was up more than 1 percent to hit a record high after the Modi government announced a Rs 7 lakh crore road construction plan over the next five years and another Rs 2.11-lakh-crore bank recapitalization plan through the issuance of recap bonds and budgetary and market support, in a major push to boost sagging growth.
Indonesia's Jakarta Composite index was up half a percent and Singapore's Straits Times index was rising 0.2 percent while benchmark indexes in Malaysia and Taiwan were marginally higher.
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