Asian stock markets are mostly higher on Tuesday, with investor sentiment bolstered by the overnight gains on Wall Street and the stabilization in crude oil prices as Kuwait oil workers went on strike.
The Australian market is notably higher, tracking the positive lead overnight from Wall Street and the recovery in oil prices.
In late-morning trades, the benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index is advancing 75.20 points or 1.46 percent to 5,212.30, off a high of 5,219.00 earlier. The broader All Ordinaries Index is up 70.70 points or 1.36 percent to 5,275.60.
Among the big miners, BHP Billiton is rising more than 4 percent and Fortescue Metals is higher by more than 5 percent.
Rio Tinto reiterated its production outlook for fiscal 2017 after reporting an 11 percent increase in iron ore shipments for the first quarter, but cut its full-year shipment guidance. Shares of the miner are gaining almost 3 percent.
Meanwhile, gold miner Newcrest Mining is down 0.5 percent and Evolution Mining is lower by 0.6 percent.
In the oil space, Woodside Petroleum and Santos are advancing more than 3 percent each.
Shares of Oil Search are rising more than 4 percent after the company reported an increase in total production for the first quarter, though revenue declined 9 percent amid the slump in oil and gas prices.
In the banking sector, Westpac Banking, ANZ Banking, National Australia Bank and Commonwealth Bank are higher in a range of 1.7 percent to 2.8 percent.
Telstra has bolstered its cloud computing offering by launching Cloud Gateway, aimed at helping business navigate software online more easily. Shares of the telecom giant are gaining more than 1 percent.
On the economic front, the Reserve Bank of Australia will release the minutes from its April 5 meeting on Tuesday. At the meeting, the bank retained its record low interest rate of 2 percent for the tenth straight meeting - but cautioned that appreciation of currency could complicate the transition of the economy.
In the currency market, the Australian dollar rose against the U.S. dollar Tuesday, on the back of a recovery in oil prices. In early trades, the local unit was trading at US$0.7749, up from US$0.7650 on Monday.
The Japanese market is sharply higher, with investor sentiment bolstered by the positive cues overnight from Wall Street. Additionally, a weaker yen lifted exporters' shares.
In late-morning trades, the benchmark Nikkei 225 Index is gaining 586.12 points or 3.60 percent to 16,862.07, off a high of 16,898.68 earlier.
Among the major exporters, Sony is higher by more than 6 percent, Canon is up almost 3 percent, Sharp is adding more than 1 percent and market heavyweight Fast Retailing is gaining more than 5 percent.
Automaker Toyota is rising more than 3 percent and Honda is up almost 5 percent. In the banking space, Mitsubishi UFJ Financial is advancing almost 7 percent.
In the oil sector, Inpex is adding more than 3 percent and refiner JX Holdings is rising more than 1 percent.
Among the other gainers, Taiyo Yuden and JTEXT Corp. are rising more than 5 percent each, while Kuraray Co. and Mitsui OSK Lines are gaining almost 4 percent each. Showa Shell Sekiyu is rising more than 3 percent.
In the currency market, the U.S. dollar traded in the lower 109 yen-level on Tuesday, up from Monday's close in the lower 108 yen-level in Tokyo.
Elsewhere in Asia, South Korea, New Zealand, Singapore Hong Kong, Indonesia and Taiwan are up with modest gains. Shanghai and Malaysia are marginally lower.
On Wall Street, stocks closed higher on Monday after showing initial volatility as traders kept a close eye on developments regarding the price of crude oil.
The Dow climbed 106.70 points or 0.6 percent to 18,004.16, the Nasdaq rose 21.80 points or 0.4 percent to 4,960.02 and the S&P 500 advanced 13.61 points or 0.7 percent to 2,094.34.
The major European markets also closed higher on Monday. While the German DAX Index advanced by 0.7 percent, the French CAC 40 Index and the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index rose by 0.3 percent and 0.2 percent, respectively.
Crude oil prices recovered on Monday even after oil producers failed to hammer out a deal in Doha to freeze output. Prices moved up from their overnight lows as Kuwaiti oil workers went on strike, limiting supplies from the Middle Eastern nation.
WTI crude oil for May delivery showed a notable recovery attempt, but still ended the day down by $0.58 or 1.4 percent at $39.78 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.
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May 01, 2026 15:54 ET Central banks dominated the economics news flow this week with almost all major ones announcing their latest policy decisions and many boosted expectations for a rate hike in June. In other news, several countries released the preliminary data for first quarter economic growth. In the U.S., comments by Fed Chair Jerome Powell were also in focus as his term ends this month.