SHANGHAI: Asian shares inched up on Tuesday as traders awaited U.S. retail sales data and more corporate earnings to gauge the health of the world's biggest economy, with markets remaining focused on a likely U.S. rate cut by the end of the month.
"Clearly the biggest risk to the most recent rally is the earnings season," said Ryan Felsman, senior economist at CommSec in Sydney. Early in the Asian trading day, MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan was up 0.04per cent. The two-year yield, closely watched as a gauge of traders' expectations for Fed fund rates, extended its falls to 1.829per cent compared with a U.S. close of 1.833per cent.