Asian Shares Rise As Bank Crisis Fears Ebb

(RTTNews) - Asian stocks rose broadly on Tuesday as active steps to rescue distressed banks in the U.S. and Europe helped ease fears of a banking crisis.

The upside remained capped as investors awaited cues from the Federal Reserve's guidance at a pivotal monetary policy meeting.

Traders and economists remain split on whether the Federal Reserve will pause or go forward with a smaller 25-bps rate hike at the conclusion of a two-day policy meeting on Wednesday.

The dollar held steady after U.S. Treasury yield made substantial recovery on Monday. Gold was little changed while oil resumed declines on recession worries after rebounding from a 15-month low overnight.

Chinese shares rose notably, led by defense stocks after the nation's state assets regulator said it would encourage and support centrally administered defense SOEs to "become stronger, better, and bigger".

The benchmark Shanghai Composite index settled 0.64 percent higher at 3,255.65 while Hong Kong's Hang Seng index rallied 1.36 percent to close at 19,258.76 ahead of Tencent's earnings release.

Japanese markets were closed for Vernal Equinox holiday. Seoul stocks eked out modest gains, with the Kospi average rising 0.38 percent to 2,388.35.

South Korea's producer prices rose for the second straight month in February as service prices increased, central bank data showed earlier in the day.

Australian markets recovered from four-month lows after the minutes from the Reserve Bank of Australia's March 7 board meeting showed board members are likely to discuss a pause in interest rate increases at its forthcoming policy meeting on April 4.

The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 climbed 0.82 percent to 6,955.40 while the broader All Ordinaries index ended 0.81 percent higher at 7,142.20.

Banks rose broadly, with ANZ and Westpac gaining more than 1 percent amid moves to prop up struggling global banks. Mining heavy weights BHP and Rio Tinto gained around 1 percent each while gold miners ended on a mixed note.

Across the Tasman, New Zealand's benchmark S&P/NZX-50 index dropped 0.29 percent to 11,531.30, dragged down by energy and property stocks.

The nation posted a merchandise trade deficit of NZ$714 million in February, official data showed today - beating forecasts for a shortfall of NZ$1,450 million.

U.S. stocks closed higher overnight as a forced takeover of Credit Suisse by UBS and joint central bank actions to boost global dollar liquidity helped ease fears of a banking crisis.

The Dow climbed 1.2 percent, the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite rose 0.4 percent and the S&P 500 advanced 0.9 percent.