Asian stocks rose to a 14-month high on Tuesday after strong sales numbers from Apple Inc suggested US consumers are spending more and as the weak US dollar kept pushing commodity prices higher.

Oil topped $80 a barrel and gold neared a record high, with the dollar locked in a steep downtrend as investors searched for higher returns elsewhere.

Portfolio flows into emerging market assets have been torrential, leading Brazil to slap a 2 per cent tax on foreign investment in domestic stocks and bonds to try to cool its real currency, which has surged 36 per cent this year.

Japan's Nikkei share average rose 1.1 per cent, supported largely by a mixture of stocks in the technology sector.

"These (US) results are inevitably providing a bit of a boost, particularly for parts suppliers and chip makers, while a whole range of China-linked shares are also doing well," said Koichi Ogawa, chief portfolio manager at Daiwa SB Investments in Tokyo.

Shares of Komatsu Ltd, the world's second-biggest maker of construction equipment, rose 2 per cent after a report the company had made 10 billion yen in operating profit for the July-September quarter on demand from China and other developing markets.

The benchmark MSCI index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan .MIAPJ0000PUS rose more than 1 per cent.

US stock futures rose 0.4 per cent after profits at Apple Inc, released after the closing bell, exceeded market forecasts on record quarterly sales of iPhones and Macs.

Shares of Apple jumped 7.5 per cent in after-hours trading to a record high. During the regular session, US stocks gained about 1 per cent to fresh 12-month highs as investors cheered a wave of solid quarterly earnings.

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