asian stock market january 9 2013, Nikkei stock ; Asian shares inched up on Wednesday but the upside was limited as investors waited warily for corporate earnings season to kick off in full force, preferring in the meantime to book profits from a sharp rally at the start of the year. MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan .MIAPJ0000PUS was up 0.1 percent.
Australian shares .AXJO rose 0.2 percent, breaking a three-day losing streak as top banks and supermarkets rose ahead of data expected to show retail sales recovered some strength before Christmas.
South Korean shares .KS11 opened up 0.2 percent. Tech heavyweight Samsung Electronics Co Ltd (005930.KS) launched the local earnings season on Tuesday by announcing a better-than-expected estimated fourth-quarter operating profit.
"The main index is seen rangebound after steadily declining since last week's rapid gains as caution rules before fourth-quarter earnings," Kim Soon-young, an analyst at IBK Securities, said of Seoul shares.
Global shares fell and bond prices rose on Tuesday, with investors cautious ahead of a U.S. earnings season expected to show sluggish growth in quarterly corporate profits.
U.S. earnings season began on Tuesday with Alcoa Inc (AA.N), the largest aluminum producer in the U.S., reporting a fourth-quarter profit of $242 million, in line with expectations. Investors tend to scrutinize Alcoa's results to gauge overall economic health as the company's aluminum products are used in the automotive, appliance and airline industries. read more Alcoa In earnings report
U.S. corporate profits are expected to be higher than the third quarter's lackluster results, but analysts' estimates are down sharply from where they were in October.
Japan's benchmark , average .N225 opened down 1 percent, hit by the yen's pause from its steady fall over the past two months which sent it down about 12 percent against the dollar. The Nikkei had risen about 21 percent in the same period.
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