Asia markets retraced much of their earlier losses to trade mostly higher on Tuesday, following the conclusion of the first U.S. presidential debate.
The Nikkei 225 Index marched ahead 139.37 points, or 0.8%, to 16,683.93, erasing a nearly 1.3% loss in early trade. Stocks were under pressure earlier due to an overnight rise in the yen.
The Japanese yen also erased early strength. After the dollar/yen pair fell as low as 100.07, compared with around 100.85 on Monday afternoon local time, the pair recovered to 100.91 as of late afternoon.
Exporters in Japan mostly reversed losses to close higher, with Toyota up 1.6%, Nissan off 0.7%, Sony down 0.1% and Fujitsu up 0.1%
The yen had climbed after Bank of Japan Governor Haruhiko Kuroda told business leaders in Osaka that the central bank was prepared to use every policy tool available to achieve its 2% inflation target, including cutting short-term interest rates further into negative territory
In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng index recovered 253.98 points, or 1.1%, to 23,571.90
Some analysts attributed the turnaround in most Asian stocks to a market perception that Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton won the debate against Republican candidate Donald Trump, which was held late Monday U.S. time.
Australian markets finished down on the day, after paring some of its 1% losses from early trade. The heavily-weighted financial sector closed down 0.8%, while the energy sector was also lower by 0.8%
Major banks in the country finished lower, with shares of ANZ down 0.5%, Commonwealth Bank of Australia was down nearly 1%, Westpac was off 1.3%, and National Australia Bank was lower by 0.2%.
In other markets
Markets in Taiwan were shuttered by Typhoon Megi
In Shanghai, the CSI 300 dropped 55.39 points, or 1.7%, to 3,220.28
The Straits Times Index in Singapore regained 20.47 points, or 0.6%, to 2,860.23
The Kospi index in Korea added 15.71 points, or 0.8%, to 2,062.82
In New Zealand, the NZX 50 dipped 11.94 points, or 0.2%, to 7,252.93
In Australia, the ASX 200 moved 25.53 points, or 0.5%, lower to 5,405.89
