Japanese workers' real wages kept shrinking for a 20th month in November, data showed on Wednesday, raising fresh alarm for the sustainability of the country's economic recovery as firms enter the period of annual pay negotiation with labour unions.

Japan’s Nikkei 225 stock index rose sharply on Wednesday, reaching levels seen before the burst of a speculative bubble in the 1990s as investors bet on a delay in the Bank of Japan’s plans to end its ultra-loose policies.

Oil prices advanced in Asian trade on Wednesday, extending a recent rebound as signs of supply disruptions in the Middle East persisted, while industry data pointed to another week of sharp builds in U.S. product inventories.

Crude prices saw a whipsaw start to the week, falling sharply on Monday as Saudi Arabia slashed the prices on its oil sales in the face of weakening demand.

But prices then rebounded amid some hopes that oil markets will tighten due to disruptions in Middle Eastern supply, as the Israel-Hamas war raged on and as Libya suspended output at its biggest oilfield.

Investor morale in the euro zone improved for the third consecutive month in January to its highest level since May, but a turnaround for the 20-country currency bloc is not a done deal, a survey showed on Monday.

British retailers reported lacklustre sales around Christmas, according to industry data released on Tuesday which may add to concerns that the economy has tipped into a mild recession, less than a year before a likely national election.

Japanese household spending in November fell 2.9% from a year earlier, down for nine months in a row, government data showed on Tuesday.