Asian stocks inched up on Wednesday, reflecting hopes that upcoming U.S. and Japanese central bank policy meetings could benefit risk assets, while crude oil prices hovered near 2016 highs.
Japan's Nikkei added 0.2 percent in early trade and Australian shares nudged up 0.1 percent.
The S&P 500 ticked up on Tuesday, buoyed by gains in the energy and materials sectors as soft economic data weakened the dollar, giving support to oil and gold prices.
The Dow Jones industrial average rose 13.08 points, or 0.07 per cent, to 17,990.32, the S&P 500 gained 3.91 points, or 0.19 per cent, to 2,091.7 and the Nasdaq Composite dropped 7.48 points, or 0.15 per cent, to 4,888.31.
The S&P 500 has ended little changed since last Thursday, with sector gains and losses hinging on the direction of oil prices for the day. The energy sector, up 1.4 per cent, was posting the biggest gains on Tuesday, tracking a 3.3 per cent increase in the price of U.S. crude futures.
Reference: Economic Times, Reuters, CNBC
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