Wall Street is pointing slightly lower in early trading but is on track to close the week with solid gains on healthy quarterly earnings reports from large U.S. corporations.

Japan’s core inflation rate rose to a 16-month high at 3% in December, year on year, boosting the case for a rate hike from the Bank of Japan.

Asian shares are mixed after gains for oil-and-gas producers helped offset drops for Nvidia and other Big Tech companies on Wall Street.

Shares were mixed in thin Asian trading on Monday after U.S. stocks edged back from their all-time high. Oil prices fell and U.S. futures sank, while Chinese shares shed some of their early gains after a survey of manufacturers showed export orders dropping to a five-month low.

Asian shares traded mixed Tuesday, echoing Wall Street trading, where gains for oil-and-gas producers helped offset drops for Nvidia and other Big Tech companies. Japan's benchmark Nikkei 225 slipped 1.