Investing.com - Shares in Tokyo climbed Wednesday as the yen weakened further while a closely watched survey of business sentiment offered a mild surprise.
Japan's Nikkei 225 was 0.1% higher as the dollar hovered around ¥110, capping a string of recent rises over the last several weeks. South Korea's KOSPI and Australia's S&P/ASX 200 were 0.1% higher.
A stronger dollar benefits export-dependent countries such as Japan.
The Bank of Japan's July-September tankan quarterly survey of business sentiment showed a mild surprise, as confidence among large Japanese manufacturers rose to 13 from 12 in June despite the impact from the April consumption tax hike.
China starts a week-long holiday to mark National Day and markets will reopen day next Wednesday, but the official CFLP PMI was released and came in at 51.1, above an expected 51.0, and even with August's 51.1.
Hong Kong markets are closed Wednesday and Thursday.
Overnight, U.S. stocks fell as investors sold on the last day of the third quarter to re-position themselves for year-end trading in a session marked by lackluster U.S. data.
The Dow 30 fell 0.17%, the S&P 500 index fell 0.28%, while the NASDAQ Composite index also fell 0.28%.
Lackluster U.S. data added to Tuesday's selloff as well.
The Conference Board reported earlier that its consumer confidence index fell to 86.0 this month from 93.4 in August, whose figure was revised up from a previously reported 92.4.
Analysts expected the index to decline to 92.5 in September.
A separate report showed that a Chicago-area purchasing managers' index fell to 60.5 this month from 64.3 in August. Analysts had expected the index to decline to 61.9 in September.
On Wednesday, the U.S. is to release the ADP report on private-sector job creation, which leads the government’s nonfarm payrolls report by two days. Later in the session, the Institute of Supply Management is to release a report on manufacturing activity.