China Economy: Wall Street Rallies On Eve Of China's Report On GDP

Asian shares inched ahead on Wednesday after Wall Street got a lift from encouraging corporate earnings and investors wagered a coming barrage of Chinese data would confirm the economy had at least stabilized.

MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan .MIAPJ0000PUS added 0.2 percent, on top of a jump of 1.4 percent on Tuesday.

Australian shares firmed 0.3 percent, while Nikkei futures NKc1 pointed to a steady start for the cash index Nikkei .N225.