Asian stocks higher as earnings season starts

Asian markets extended their gains Tuesday following a mixed lead from Wall Street as investors await the release of key US data later in the week. While trade was quiet the advances were fuelled by upbeat corporate earnings, with Japan's Nikkei helped by a weakening yen. Tokyo rose 0.53 percent, Hong Kong gained 0.40 percent, Shanghai was 0.10 percent higher and Seoul put on 0.69 percent. Sydney was flat. Kuala Lumpur, Jakarta, Manila and Mumbai were closed for public holidays. As Asia's earnings season kicks into gear Japanese firms have fared positively so far. Car giant Nissan on Monday was the first big name to report, announcing a 37 percent jump in net profit thanks to strong overseas sales. Nissan shares rose 3.4 percent on the news early Tuesday. "Corporate earnings have been improving steadily helped by domestic consumption and capex (capital expenditure)," Shun Maruyama, chief Japan equity strategist at BNP Paribas Securities, told Dow Jones Newswires. "We can anticipate a gradual rising trend." The Tokyo market also got support from data showing that a recent decline in household spending eased to 3.0 percent year-on-year in June, which was much smaller than the 8.0 percent dive in May and the 4.6 percent loss in April. Hiroichi Nishi, general manager of equity at SMBC Nikko Securities, said investors were worried Japan's sales tax hike in April could weigh on results but "excessive concerns are receding", according to AFP.