Asian stocks pare gains, yen extends rally

An employee of the Tokyo Stock Exchange (TSE) works at the bourse at TSE in Tokyo, Japan, February 9, 2016.

ASIA: Asian stocks erased earlier gains and the Japanese yen rallied to a fresh eighteen-month high on Tuesday as investors grew doubtful about global central banks' ability to boost growth through aggressive policy easing.

MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan .MIAPJ0000PUS was flat after being up as much as 0.4 percent on the day and is now trading at a three-week low.