On Tuesday, the Nikkei share average of Japan hit its highest closing level in nearly three months on Tuesday on expectations that a Greek debt swap deal will still be reached even after European finance ministers rejected an offer by private creditors of Greece.

The Nikkei average .N225 closed 0.2 percent higher at 8,785.33.

From Reuters.com:

Highlighting the risk posed by the euro zone debt crisis, the Bank of Japan on Tuesday cut its economic forecasts for the year ending in March and the following year.

"There's resistance for the Nikkei around the 8,800 level in the short-term ... The Nikkei's gains right now are part of a board reversal and for it to climb higher it needs some more positive factors out of Greece and strong earnings from the U.S.," Nishimura said.

Of the 77 S&P 500 .SPX firms that have reported quarterly results so far, 61 percent of them either beat or met market expectations, according to Thomson Reuters StarMine data. That was down from some 70 percent in the previous quarter.

"Despite the fact that they haven't come to a deal yet, comments out of Europe suggested that there are many points of agreement between the parties and the euro rose above 100 yen, which was positive for Japan's markets," said Yumi Nishimura, senior technical analyst at Daiwa Securities.