Asian Shares Advance As China Rout Pauses On Stimulus Hopes

(RTTNews) - Asian stocks advanced on Tuesday, with continued gains on Wall Street and China stimulus hopes helping underpin investor sentiment.

Gold drifted higher as the dollar slipped ahead of key economic data releases and central bank decisions due this week.

Oil prices were slightly higher after climbing about 2 percent on Monday on concerns over tight supply.

Chinese markets recovered from an early slide to end higher after Premier Li Qiang called for more effective measures to stabilize the stock market.

Media reports suggested that policymakers are seeking to mobilize about 2 trillion yuan ($278 billion) as part of a stabilization fund to buy shares onshore through the Hong Kong exchange link.

China's Shanghai Composite index rose 0.53 percent to 2,770.98 while Hong Kong's Hang Seng index jumped 2.63 percent to 15,353.98.

Japanese markets gave up early gains to end marginally lower as the Bank of Japan kept its ultra-easy policy settings intact, as widely expected. The Nikkei average soared more than 1 percent to a 34-year peak before ending little changed with a negative bias at 36,517.57.

The broader Topix index slipped 0.11 percent to 2,542.07 amid profit booking in the tech sector. Advantest and Tokyo Electron fell 1.5 percent and 1.7 percent, respectively.

Seoul stocks gained ground despite data showing a pick-up in producer price inflation in December. The Kospi average inched up 0.58 percent to 2,478.61.

Australian markets rose for a third straight session, led by a rally in healthcare stocks. CSL, Ramsay Health Care and Ansell gained 1-2 percent. The benchmark S&P ASX 200 rose 0.51 percent to 7,514.90 while the broader All Ordinaries index settled 0.52 percent higher at 7,742.10.

Arcadium Lithium surged 4.7 percent as Macquarie initiated coverage on the lithium miner with an outperform rating.

Across the Tasman, New Zealand's benchmark S&P NZX-50 index climbed 1.01 percent to finish at 11,802.88.

U.S. stocks closed higher on Monday amid optimism about the outlook for earnings.

The S&P 500 edged up 0.2 percent to close at a record high for a second day running, while the Dow rose 0.4 percent and the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite added 0.3 percent.