Asian shares advance, Japan slips as Abe-Trump meeting looms

With Japan's largest export market at stake, investors are wary of big manufacturers' shares.

The Trump trade is the primary focus for equity markets and without any further guidance on U.S. tax policies, investors stay on the sidelines, annoyed and concerned about the unknown.

Orders of "core machinery" that exclude ships and utilities rose 6.7 percent in December from the month before, suggesting relative strength in business investment, though economists cautioned against reading too much into such statistics.

More than half of the companies in the S&P 500 index have reported quarterly results so far, and roughly 60 percent have posted earnings that beat financial analysts' estimates.

Brent crude, the benchmark for international oil prices, added 26 cents to $55.38 a barrel.