Nikkei rises as tech shares gain; soft yen helps mood

MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan gained 0.22 percent while Japan's Nikkei ticked up 0.05 percent. On Wall Street, the S&P 500 rose 0.28 percent to 2,858, which is just 14 points, or about 0.5 percent, below its record high marked in January.

TOKYO: Japan's Nikkei edged up on Wednesday morning as technology shares rose tracking their U.S. counterparts, while the country's better-than-expected machinery orders aided sentiment.

Since the White House added China's Huawei to a trade blacklist last week, several global companies have suspended business with the world's largest telecoms equipment maker.