In today’s market report… Asian shares recovered somewhat, led by Taiwan and South Korea, as the euro staged a small rebound from its recent drubbing.

Strong January export data boosted Taiwanese firms such as the world's largest chipmaker, TSMC.

Taiwan shares closed 2 percent up, their biggest jump since September, while technology shares such as Samsung helped Seoul's KOSPI bounce from a two-month low.

Shanghai stocks closed nearly half a percent higher, although a new listing by China First Heavy Industries continued a string of disappointing market debuts.

But investor sentiment remained weak on euro zone sovereign debt concerns, hitting Australia and Japan, where the Nikkei closed at a two-month low.

Beaten-down Toyota shares climbed on short-covering after recalling nearly half a million of its flagship Prius and other hybrid cars for braking problems.