Asia-Pacific markets were mixed Wednesday, following gains on Wall Street as investors appeared unperturbed by the U.S. government shutdown.

Spot gold prices surged 0.09% to hit a fresh record of $3,875.32 as of 11:04 a.m. Singapore time (11:04 p.m. ET).

Over in Japan, the central bank released the results for its third-quarter Tankan survey. The Tankan survey measures business sentiment among domestic companies, and is closely watched by the Bank of Japan.

The index for business optimism among large Japanese manufacturers increased to +14 for the third quarter from +13 in the previous quarter, but was lower than the +15 expected by economists polled by Reuters. The non-manufacturing index held steady at +34.

A positive figure on the Tankan indicates that optimists outnumber pessimis

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