Asian shares steady, Japan soaring

Asian stocks held steady on Tuesday with regional markets still closed for the holiday, but Japanese stocks surged after the comments to a U.S. official. The market as a whole does not have the momentum as investors awaited key events from the U.S. president.
Asia's FTSE 100 rose 0.4 percent higher. Nikkei Stocks posted gains on Tuesday as exporters benefited from a weaker yen after U.S. Treasury official said the United States supports Japan's efforts to end deflation and re-invigorate growth.
The benchmark index rallied 2.5 percent to 11,425.3 points, while the broader Topix index gained 1.8 percent. Exporter shares rose by Toyota Motor, Canon, Sony, and Nikon between 2.3 up to 3.6 percent.
Renesas Electronics fell 5.2 percent, the lowest 3-month, after cutting its forecast for the year ending March 31 to an operating loss of 26 billion yen ($ 278 million).
However, Nissan Motor lost 2.5 percent after full-year net profit unchanged, bucking the trend among Japanese automakers for a more optimistic as a result of the depreciation of the yen.
South Korean shares edged up on Tuesday, extending gains after strong data from China over the weekend.The Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) rose 0.1 percent to 1,952.8 points. Samsung Electronics rose 0.8 percent while Hyundai Motors rose 0.5 percent.
Network Tongyang lost 2.3 percent after announcing on Friday that talks with a unit of IBM preferential South Korea to purchase its IT services business has been postponed temporarily.
Australian shares edged up 0.2 percent, led by the financial sector, after the end of the current session of Wall Street and investors awaited the outcome ahead of corporate earnings reporting week.
The benchmark S & P / ASX 200 index 8.3 points higher at 4,967.9. Whitehaven Coal shares jumped as much as 8.4 percent after the Australian government approved the main project growth, Maules Creek coal mine. Commonwealth Bank of Australia, led the gains, rising 0.4 percent to its all-time high of A $ 65.49.
The benchmark index of New Zealand's NZX 50 trades flat, up 0.1 points to 4,220.6.
Financial markets in China, Hong Kong, Malaysia and Singapore are closed for the Lunar New Year holidays.