Asian shares firm in countdown to China data

By Wayne Cole SYDNEY (Reuters) - Asian shares inched ahead on Wednesday after Wall Street got a lift from encouraging corporate earnings and investors wagered an imminent barrage of Chinese data would confirm the economy had at least stabilized. MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan added 0.4 percent, on top of a jump of 1.4 percent on Tuesday. Australian shares firmed 0.4 percent, while Japan's Nikkei dithered either side of flat.