Asian equities advanced Tuesday, tracking a Wall Street rally that pushed the Dow Jones Industrial Average to a record close, while oil prices recovered from Monday's sharp selloff and the Japanese yen gave back some of its intervention-driven gains.
The MSCI gauge for Asian shares rose, led by a nearly 2% jump in South Korea's Kospi index, according to Bloomberg data cited by The Economic Times. Japan's Nikkei 225 edged 0.11% lower to 63,684.85 by the midday break, and the broader Topix index declined 0.26% to 3,949.90, as investors weighed the prospect of further yen-buying intervention against Toyota Motor's upcoming quarterly earnings.
U.S. markets closed Monday on a firm note. The Dow rose 0.98% to 52,998.45, the S&P 500 climbed 1.5% to finish within striking distance of its own record, and the Nasdaq 100 gauge of megacaps posted its best day since March. Amazon.com's market value surpassed $3 trillion for the first time after strong earnings underscored demand for its cloud-computing services.
The equity advance was catalyzed by a steep drop in oil prices on Monday after President Donald Trump said he had paused planned strikes on Iran and that talks to reopen the Strait of Hormuz would take place. Brent crude futures fell $6.35, or 7.0%, to settle at $83.77 a barrel, while West Texas Intermediate dropped $4.33, or 5.1%, to $80.34. The pullback erased a portion of the geopolitical risk premium that had accumulated during the five-month conflict.