Asia-Pacific markets climbed on Tuesday as investors reacted to Wall Street’s strong gains, fueled by optimism that United States President Donald Trump may take a softer approach to tariffs.
Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 gained 0.7%, while South Korea’s Kospi inched up 0.1%. Japan’s Nikkei 225 advanced 1.2%.
Investor sentiment was also shaped by the Bank of Japan’s latest monetary policy meeting minutes.
The report indicated that most policymakers believed the likelihood of achieving their economic outlook had improved:
"Most members expressed the view that prices had been developing generally in line with the Bank's outlook presented in the previous Outlook Report.
“Members agreed that inflation expectations had risen moderately.”
The positive momentum followed Wall Street’s rally on Monday, as the Dow Jones Industrial Average surged 598.0 points or 1.4% to 42,583.3, the S&P 500 climbed 1.8% to 5,767.6, while the Nasdaq Composite advanced 2.3% to 18,188.6.
In commodities, Brent crude rose 1.2% to a three-week high of US$73.00 per barrel, while spot gold eased 0.4% from all-time highs, trading at US$3,012.15 per ounce.
Chinese markets also rose, with the Shanghai Composite adding 0.2% to 3,370.0, while the CSI 300 increased 0.5% to 3,934.8.
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index lifted 0.9% to 23,905.6, and India’s BSE Sensex gained 1.4% to 77,984.4.
Meanwhile, European markets ended lower, with the FTSE 100 slipping 0.1% to 8,638.0, the DAX falling 0.2% to 22,852.7, and the CAC 40 declining 0.3% to 8,022.3.
