Asian shares inched ahead on Wednesday after Wall Street got a lift from encouraging corporate earnings and investors wagered a coming barrage of Chinese data would confirm the economy had at least stabilized. MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan .MIAPJ0000PUS added 0.2 percent, on top of a jump of 1.4 percent on Tuesday. Australian shares firmed 0.3 percent, while Nikkei futures NKc1 pointed to a steady start for the cash index Nikkei .N225 . All eyes were on the Chinese gross domestic product (GDP) report due at 0200 GMT (10 p.m. EDT) . While there are some doubts about the reliability of the data, markets tend to take them on face value. The economy is forecast to have expanded by 6.7 percent in the year to September, underpinned by government stimulus and a hot property market. ECONCN Other data due is expected to show a slight pick-up […]