Asian shares were mixed Wednesday as dealers eased off after two days of advances, while Japanese investors showed little fear amid reports the country's finance minister looks set to step down.
The Nikkei in Tokyo was up 0.41 percent, Hong Kong opened 0.34 percent higher, while Sydney was 0.11 percent off.
Chinese shares fell 0.23 percent in early trade, while Singapore was 0.39 percent lower.
Commodities companies gained further as crude continued its run amid a severe winter in the northern hemisphere.
Japanese stocks gained in the first trading session since news broke that 77-year-old Finance Minister Hirohisa Fujii had offered to resign on health grounds.
The market was awaiting developments as Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama has reiterated his desire for his minister to remain in his post.
"The market is very calm about this," said Masamichi Adachi, a senior economist at JPMorgan Chase.
"We don't expect major changes from this. The budget proposal for the next fiscal year is already finished. It is unlikely that it will be changed."
Overnight, New York's main futures contract, light sweet crude for delivery in February, gained 26 cents to close at 81.77 dollars a barrel.
Brent North Sea crude for February delivery added 47 cents to settle at 80.49 dollars in London trading.
And in Wall Street trade the dollar fell to 91.70 yen from 92.53 yen on Monday, while the euro dropped to 1.4367 dollars from 1.4408 dollars.
In Hong Kong, gold opened lower at 1,119.50-1,120.50 US dollars an ounce, down from Tuesday's close of 1,126.50-1,127.50 dollars.
— Dow Jones Newswires contributed to this story —
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