* Long-battered Australian financial shares jump
* Strong U.S. data still supporting sentiment
* Multiple Asian markets closed for Lunar New Year
* Asian stock markets: https://tmsnrt.rs/2zpUAr4
By Hideyuki Sano
TOKYO, Feb 5 (Reuters) - Recent U.S. data and the Federal Reserve's dovish turn kept lifting Asian stocks early on Tuesday, while the dollar held the upper hand against its rivals.
Japan's Nikkei .N225 rose 0.4 percent before erasing gains while MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan .MIAPJ0000PUS advanced 0.3 percent.
Australian shares .AXJO jumped 1.95 percent, with long-battered financials .AXFJ surging on short-covering after a special government-appointed inquiry excoriated Australia's financial sector for misconduct but left the structure of the country's powerful banks in place. in Asia, trade was light, with markets in greater China, South Korea, Singapore and Indonesia are all closed for the Lunar New Year.
On Wall Street, the S&P 500 .SPX gained, with technology .SPLRCT and industrials .SPLRCI the biggest risers as investors braced for another big week of fourth-quarter corporate earnings reports.
After the bell, Google operator Alphabet GOOGL.O fell about 3 percent as its higher spending in the fourth-quarter worried investors even as its revenue and profits beat Wall Street's expectations. gauge of stocks across the globe .MIWD00000PUS reached a two-month high, having risen more than 13 percent from its near two-year low late in December, helped by the Fed's change of tack.
Chairman Jerome Powell has signalled its three-year tightening drive may be coming to an end amid a suddenly cloudy outlook for the U.S. economy due to global growth concerns and the U.S.-China trade dispute.
Data announced on Friday showed U.S. job growth surged in January while a key gauge of U.S. manufacturing sector showed surprising resilience after December's shocking fall, allaying fears of immediate slowdown in the U.S. economy.
Hiroshi Nakamura, senior manager of investment planning at Mitsui Life Insurance, said financial markets' positive reaction to the U.S. data is diminishing with time, but hopes for a U.S.-China trade deal "will continue to support markets until the two sides come to formal decisions".
The U.S. dollar strengthened across the board, as investors took heart from Friday's strong payrolls number.
The dollar's index against six major currencies .DXY rose to 95.843, having gained 0.27 percent on Monday.
The euro eased to $1.1436 EUR= , off three-week high of $1.15405 set on Thursday.
The dollar firmed to 109.92 yen JPY= , having risen to 110.165 the previous day, its highest level in five weeks.
The British pound GBP=D3 slipped to $1.3035, having quickly erased brief gains on Monday following a newspaper report that goods shipped to Britain from the European Union could be waved through without checks in the event of a "no-deal" Brexit. Australian dollar fell 0.4 percent to $0.7196 AUD=D3 after local retail sales and trade data reinforced concerns about a slowing growth in Australia.
At a meeting on Tuesday, the Reserve Bank of Australia is expected to keep interest rates on hold, though some market players now expect a cut later this year due to mounting signs of economic weakness.
Oil prices were supported by OPEC-led supply cuts and U.S. sanctions against Venezuela.
U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude CLc1 futures rose 0.4 to $54.76 a barrel. They hit 2 1/2-month high of $55.75 on Monday. (Editing by Richard Borsuk)