Investing.com - Asian shares posted solid gains on Tuesday with solid data points from Tokyo and Sydney as well as indications of continued demand for Chinese equities ahead of earnings season.
Japan's Nikkei 225 rose 0.60% and hit levels intraday not seen since 1991, while Australia's S&P/ASX 200 gained 0.21%. Mining companies Rio Tinto (LON:RIO) and BHP gained 1.48% and 1.28%, respectively.
Japan reported average cash earnings for November jumped 0.9%, well above the 0.6% expected and overtime pay soared 2.60% compared to a 0.60% rise seen.
In Australia, building approvals data jumped a surprise 11.7%, compared with a 1.3% decline seen on month for November.
In Greater China, the Shanghi Composite inched up 0.08% and the Hang Seng index edged up 0.46%.
In seoul, Samsung Electronics (KS:005930) fell 1.88% after the company announced its fourth-quarter earnings guidance on Tuesday. The tech giant said it was estimating a record 15.1 trillion Korean won ($14.13 billion) in operating profit for the quarter. Still, that was a touch below the 15.9 trillion won forecast by Reuters.
Other technology names were mixed. SK Hynix was lower by 0.26% and LG Electronics climbed 3.33% after its stock stumbled in the last session following a lower-than-expected fourth-quarter profit estimate.
Overnight, the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJI) fell 12.87 points, or 0.05%, to 25,283, the S&P 500 (SPX) gained 4.56 points, or 0.17%, to 2,747.71, and the Nasdaq Composite (IXIC) added 20.83 points, or 0.29%, to 7,157.39.