Asian shares inched up on Tuesday in cautious trading ahead of a crucial U.S. inflation report that could heavily influence the Federal Reserve's policy outlook, while the fragile yen flirted with one-year lows, putting it back in the intervention zone. MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan was 0.49 per cent higher, while Tokyo's Nikkei gained 0.36 per cent. Australia's S&P/ASX 200 index was up 0.61 per cent. The Japanese yen was at 151.
71 per dollar in Asian hours, having touched a one-year low of 151.92 on Monday. If the battered currency breaks below last year's trough of 151.94, it would mark a fresh 33-year low. Japanese Finance Minister Shunichi Suzuki said on Tuesday that the government would take all possible steps necessary to respond to currency moves, repeating his usual mantra that excessive swings were undesirable