Asian Shares Gain On China Stimulus, Fed Pause Hopes

(RTTNews) - Asian stocks ended broadly higher on Tuesday amid positive sentiment stemming from Fed pause hopes and Chinese stimulus measures.

Markets looked ahead to a raft of key economic readings from the U.S. and China this week for additional clues on the rate and economic outlook.

Chinese shares climbed on expectations that policymakers will unveil more supportive measures to support the sputtering economy.

The benchmark Shanghai Composite index rose 1.20 percent to 3,135.89 ahead of the release of official purchasing managers' index (PMI) data from China for August later this week.

Hong Kong's Hang Seng index jumped 1.95 percent to 18,484.03, with tech and real estate stocks pacing the gainers.

Property developer Country Garden soared 12.4 percent after its first-half results showed some improvement in some key performance ratios.

Electric vehicle maker BYD jumped 4.8 percent after its profit for the first six months of 2023 tripled.

Japanese shares edged up slightly as the yen continued to weaken in quiet trade. The Nikkei average edged up 0.18 percent to 32,226.97 while the broader Topix index settled 0.16 percent higher at 2,303.41.

Tokyo Electric Power surged 5.3 percent after no abnormalities were detected in seawater samples taken from around its crippled coastal Fukushima nuclear complex.

Automaker Toyota Motor ended a choppy session slightly lower after suspending production at 12 factories due to a system failure.

Investors shrugged off data showing that Japan's unemployment rate rose for the first time in four months in July.

Seoul stocks eked out modest gains, with the Kospi average rising 0.34 percent to 2,552.16 ahead of key economic data, including U.S. GDP and unemployment and the China manufacturing PMI, due to be released this week.

Australian markets closed notably higher as miners surged on hopes of more stimulus out of China. The benchmark S&P ASX 200 rose 0.71 percent to 7,210.50 while the broader All Ordinaries index ended 0.69 percent higher at 7,416.40.

Mining heavyweights BHP and Rio Tinto gained over 1 percent each while smaller rival Fortescue Metals Group jumped 3.2 percent.

lithium player Mineral Resources soared 8 percent after boosting its total dividend by 90 percent.

Tyro Payments jumped 14.7 percent after delivering record annual earnings. EML Payments soared 31.5 percent after earnings beat guidance.

Across the Tasman, New Zealand's benchmark S&P NZX-50 index closed up 0.43 percent at 11,528.12 after the government said it is committed to cutting spending.

U.S. stocks logged solid gains overnight as bond yields retreated on speculation the Fed may take a rate-hike breather in September.

The Dow and the S&P 500 both rose about 0.6 percent while the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite advanced 0.8 percent.