Nikkei leads in early Asian trade Tuesday after solid US data

Nikkei led Asian shares higher in early tradeon Tuesday - Reuters filepic

NEW YORK: Nikkei led Asian shares higher on Tuesday, supported by solid U.S. and Chinese manufacturing data, while the euro dragged its feet near a 3½-month low on expectations of fresh monetary easing by the European Central Bank.

Japan's Nikkei rose 1%to hit a two-month high while MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan was flat, not far from one-year high hit last week.