Asian stock markets rose on Tuesday following fresh highs Monday on Wall Street.
At the close of trade, the Hang Seng index was up 448.17 points, or 1.63%, at 27,963.41. In Tokyo, the Nikkei 225 advanced 149.22 points or 0.52 percent to 28,718.24.
Tencent Holdings Ltd jumped 3.93% after China’s antitrust regulator on Tuesday approved its plan to take the country’s no.3 search engine Sogou Inc private in a $3.5 billion deal.
The financial sector also gained, rising 1.54% with Hong Kong shares of HSBC Holdings Plc ending 2.62% higher after the Bank of England on Tuesday scrapped pandemic-era curbs on dividends from top lenders with immediate effect.
China's Shanghai Composite gained 18.61 points or 0.53 percent to 3,566.52.
Sentiment was also bolstered by customs data showing that China’s exports grew much faster than expected in June, and import growth also beat expectations.
The Australian All Ordinaries index finished ahead 7.30 points or 0.10 percent at 7,612.20.
The Kospi climbed 24.91 points, or 0.8 percent, to 3,271.38.
New Zealand shares ended higher, with the benchmark NZX 50 Index closing up 21.54 points, or 0.2 percent, at 12,784.94.
