TOKYO — Asian shares shrugged off a sluggish start and pushed higher on Tuesday, with Japanese markets leading the way after an upbeat US manufacturing survey bolstered the dollar.Australian shares slipped 0.2% after Australia’s central bank kept its cash rate steady at 1.5% on Tuesday, a widely expected decision as it assesses the impact of its May and August rate cuts."We think the case for no more cuts is strengthening," says Paul Bloxham, chief economist Australia at HSBC. "Economic growth is strong, commodity prices have risen, and the drag from the mining investment decline is set to fade."MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan was up 0.2%, while Japan’s Nikkei stock index gained 0.8% as the dollar rose against the yen.Markets in China are on holiday this week.The Institute for Supply Management said on Monday that its index of US national factory activity rose to 51.5 in September from 49.4 in August, indicating that the sector is now expanding."The upbeat...
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