Asian stocks climb as strong earnings buoy Wall Street

Asian shares advanced on Wednesday and bonds steadied after Wall Street gained, with early earnings reports pointing to strong profits for global firms, according to Business Recorder. MSCI's Asia-Pacific gauge excluding Japan rose 1.5 per cent, with Korean stocks leading at a 4 per cent gain, while Japan's Nikkei 225 added 1.3 per cent. LSEG data showed 86 per cent of the S&P 500 companies that have reported so far, about 13 per cent of the index, beat earnings estimates.

Brent crude climbed 1.1 per cent to $110.03 per barrel in early Asian trade, after touching a five-month peak on Tuesday. Traders were weighing a meeting between Iran's president and Pakistan's army chief, a key US-Iran mediator, alongside renewed Houthi strikes on Saudi facilities and claimed attacks on ships in the Gulf. Earlier, crude slipped on unconfirmed talk of renewed peace negotiations, but the drop was mostly reversed after those reports were denied.

French stocks fell over concern about the administration's steps to contain recent unrest, as Prime Minister Sebastien Lecornu pledged a large police and troop deployment for Saturday protests. Japan's September exports climbed 16.7 per cent year on year, falling short of forecasts, while the yen slipped 0.1 per cent to 158.33 per dollar. Investors also awaited Indonesia's central bank decision as it tried to stop the rupiah's slide after an MSCI warning.