Investing.com - Asian shares gained on Wednesday with markets awaiting possible trade data from China expected to set the tone.
The Nikkei 225 gained 1.0%, while the S&P/ASX 200 rose 0.39%. Earlier in Australia the Westpac consumer sentiment index for July fell 3.0% compared with the last reading down 1.0%.
"The Reserve Bank Board next meets on August 2. We expect that it will decide to further reduce the overnight cash rate to 1.5%," said Westpac's chief economist Bill Evans.
Chinese stocks rose in the morning, setting them on track for a third straight gain in line with the U.S. and Europe overnight. The Shanghai Composite Index rose 0.31%, while Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index was last up 0.45% at 21,321.06.
The People's Bank of China set the yuan central parity rate stronger against the dollar at 6.6891 on Wednesday, compared with 6.6950 Tuesday.
China is expected to report trade data with a surplus balance of $46.64 billion seen, with imports down 4.1% in June year-on-year and exports down 5.0%.
Overnight, the Dow Jones Industrial Average surged to record intraday and closing highs on Tuesday, while the S&P 500 Composite index hit fresh highs for the second consecutive session, as oil futures surged 4% to bounce from near two-month lows while foreign investors piled into equities on Wall Street amid a plunging Yen.
The Dow closed at 18,347.67, up 120.74 or 0.66% on the session, eclipsing the previous record from May,2015, by approximately 30 points. At session-highs, the Dow hit a record intraday high of 18,372 in the final hour of Tuesday's trade, slightly above the prior all-time high of 18,351.36 from last May. Since tumbling by more than 850 points over a two-day, post-Brexit sell-off, the Dow has rallied approximately 1,300 points during the massive global equities rally.
The S&P 500, meanwhile, surged to a record mid-day high of 2,155.40 in Tuesday's session, before closing at an all-time high of 2,152.14, up 14.98 or 0.70%. For the day, eight of 10 sectors closed in the green, as stocks in the Energy and Basic Materials led, each gaining more than 2% on the session. Stocks in high-dividend, defensive industries such as Utilities and Telecoms lagged, each closing lower for the day.
Not to be outdone, the NASDAQ Composite index added 34.18 or 0.69% to 5,022.82. With the gains, the NASDAQ erased all of its losses for the calendar year.