2013.04.1104:48:36UTC+00Asian shares up because of Chinas Trade performance

 While the US Stock futures were down 0.1 percent, the Wall Street opened and ended in a lifetime high last Wednesday.

China saw a mild trade deficit of $884 million in March as a forecast-busting 14.1 percent year-on-year surge in imports eclipsed export growth of 10 percent, signaling that domestic demand was gathering the steam needed to drive economic recovery.

Haibin Zhu, chief China economist at JP Morgan in Hong Kong said” The surge in imports in March could help dispel a major concern over trends in domestic demand that had been prompted by weakness of import growth in previous months.”.

Australian shares lagged with a 0.1 percent drop, with a retreat in financials offsetting a rally in miners. But the Australian dollar hit a 2-1/2-month high of $1.0518 after the Chinese data.

Recovery in China, Australia's largest trading partner, raises hopes for demand for Australian goods.

"We've probably seen the lows in many of the base metals for now," said economist Alexandra Knight of National Australia Bank in Melbourne. "We're still seeing a modest recovery in the U.S. and we expect economic growth in China to extend over the first half, so there's plenty of support for demand."

The S&P hit an all-time high last month while the Nikkei at around 13,290 currently is still only about a third of its lifetime high hit in December 1989.

"As the long as the (Nikkei) index avoids a close below 11,820 this month or 12,550 next month, the road to 14,500, appears intact," Laidi said. The yen remained near recent lows. The dollar was at 99.03 yen and the euro traded at 129.57 yen, while the Aussie was at 104 yen.

On Tuesday, the dollar hit 99.67 yen, its highest since May 2009, the euro climbed as far as 130.09 yen, its highest since January 2010, and the Aussie dollar soared to 104.35 yen, the highest since July 2008.

"The BO's recent policy action will undoubtedly lead to the Japanese picking up their offshore search for yield. We are looking closely for signs of where the wall of Japanese money may be heading next," Westpac said in a research note.

"The BOJ's steps may be waking up Japanese investors to the need to hedge against the risk of inflation," said Koichiro Kamei, managing director at financial research firm Market Strategy Institute, adding that gold could also act as a hedge against further falls in the yen.