(RTTNews) – Asian stocks were broadly higher on Tuesday after Wall Street stocks ended their second straight overnight gain, fueled by a rally in technology stocks.
Most of the regional markets, including South Korea, Malaysia, Singapore, China, Hong Kong and Taiwan, were closed for the Lunar New Year holiday.
The dollar held near a nine-month low against the euro and clawed back recent gains against the yen as U.S. Treasury yields edged lower on expectations that the Federal Reserve will ease its aggressive anti-inflation stance.
US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen on Monday said the strong labor market and declining inflation in the United States were “very encouraging signs”.
Japanese stocks rose to lead regional gains, led by technology stocks. The Nikkei average jumped 1.46 percent to 27,299.19, marking its highest close since December. 16 as investors prepare for earnings season.
The broader Topix index closed 1.42 percent higher at 1972.92. Tokyo Electron, Screen Holdings, Advantest and SoftBank Group rose 2-3 percent.
GS Yuasa Corp jumped 3.8 percent after the battery maker announced a joint venture with Honda Motor to develop advanced lithium-ion batteries. The latter’s shares rose by 1.2 percent.
Australian markets rose modestly to extend gains for a fifth straight day, with miners and technology shares leading the gain.
Financials came under selling pressure as a National Australia Bank survey showed its business conditions index fell 8 points to +12 in December.
The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 rose 0.44% to 7,490.40, while the broader All Ordinaries index added 0.47% to close at 7,710.50.
Myer Holdings jumped 5.3% after the department store reported its strongest sales in almost 20 months in the five months ended December 31.
Across the Tasman, New Zealand’s benchmark S&P/NZX-50 was down 0.13 percent at 11,932.92. India’s Sensex rose 0.2 percent in range-bound trade.
U.S. stocks jumped overnight to extend Friday’s big gains as investors reacted to a flood of corporate news and earnings results.
The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite rose 2 percent and the S&P 500 rose 1.2 percent, hitting its best close in more than a month, while the Dow added 0.8 percent.