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Hong Kong - Asian shares were mixed on Tuesday with Tokyo buoyed by a weaker yen after US stocks hit yet another record high.
With a lack of major trading cues, markets awaited the release of economic policy details from a key meeting of China's ruling Communist Party in Beijing, due to conclude on Tuesday after four days.
Tokyo was up 1.69% by the break, Seoul rose 1.01% and Shanghai climbed 0.23%. Sydney was flat but Hong Kong fell 0.69%.
Manila was up 0.23% following Monday's losses as the Philippines reels from super typhoon Haiyan, which has left thousands dead.
"There is very little news or data to trade on, with earnings releases thus far having been unexciting, or even disappointing with few impressive upward forecast revisions," Naoki Fujiwara, fund manager at Shinkin Asset Management, told Dow Jones Newswires.
He said the weaker yen remained the dominant trading cue as it boosted exporters' earnings.
Sydney was dragged down by a downbeat monthly business survey from National Australia Bank, which showed that confidence fell to a score of +5 points in October from +12 a month earlier.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 21.32 points (0.14%) to 15,783.10, hitting a second consecutive record high in thin trade because of the Veterans Day holiday.
In Asian forex trade, the dollar climbed to ¥99.53, up from ¥99.20 in New York Monday, on expectations that the Federal Reserve could start tapering its $85bn a month asset purchase programme next month or in January.
The Fed has said any draw-down - seen as a plus for the dollar - hinged on signs of a firm recovery. There was more evidence last week that the US economy is on the right track with positive jobs numbers and better-than-expected growth data.
"More and more market players expect the Fed to start tapering the programme by the end of the year," Daisuke Karakama, market economist at Mizuho Bank, told AFP.
The euro was at $1.3390 against $1.3407 and at ¥133.27 from ¥133.01.
On oil markets, New York's main contract, West Texas Intermediate (WTI) for December delivery, was down 18 cents to $94.96 a barrel in morning Asian trade, while Brent North Sea crude for December fell 10c to $106.30.
Gold was under pressure at $1 280.60 per ounce in early trade compared with $1 285.27 on Monday.
