Asia shares slip early Thursday after Apple results hit Wall St

MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan rose 0.4 percent while Japan's Nikkei gained 2.0 percent. (People walk in front of an electronic board showing Japan's Nikkei average outside a brokerage in Tokyo, Japan, April 13, 2016. - REUTERS)

Besides Apple , results and forecasts from some other major U.S. companies also weighed on U.S. markets overnight. The S&P 500 and the Nasdaq Composite both skidded, though a standout performance by Boeing lifted the Dow Jones industrial average .

MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan as well as Tokyo's Nikkei stock index were both down 0.2 percent in early trading.