Asian Shares Gain After Wall Street Rally

(RTTNews) - Asian stocks advanced on Tuesday after a rally in several technology shares drove Wall Street to another record high overnight.

The dollar took a breather ahead of key U.S. retail sales and business activity data as well as speeches from several Federal Reserve officials due this week. Gold was little changed while oil consolidated recent gains.

China's Shanghai Composite index rose 0.48 percent to 3,030.25 despite rising China-EU trade tensions.

China has opened a trade probe into pork imported from Europe a week after the EU imposed extra tariffs on Chinese electric vehicles.

Hong Kong's Hang Seng index ended 0.11 percent lower at 17,915.55 after a choppy session.

Japanese markets bounced back after suffering heavy losses in the previous session.

The Nikkei average rallied 1 percent to 38,482.11 as Bank of Japan Governor Kazuo Ueda hinted at the possibility of an upcoming interest rate increase in July. The broader Topix index finished 0.58 percent higher at 2,715.76.

Chip-making equipment maker Tokyo Electron jumped 2.7 percent and electronic parts maker TDK surged 6.3 percent.

Toyota Motor rose half a percent after Akio Toyoda, grandson of Toyota Motor Corp's founder, won shareholders' approval to stay at automaker's helm.

Seoul stocks rose notably after the country's central bank chief hinted at easing inflation with potential interest-rate cuts by year-end. The Kospi average jumped 0.72 percent to 2,763.92.

Australian markets rallied as the Reserve Bank held rates steady but cautioned that inflation is still above the target. The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 rose 1.01 percent to 7,778.10 while the broader All Ordinaries index climbed 0.91 percent to 8,015.80.

Across the Tasman, New Zealand's benchmark S&P/NZX-50 index gained 0.59 percent to close at 11,767.40.

U.S. stocks closed higher overnight as investors awaited a slew of economic data and comments from Federal Reserve officials later in the week.

Treasury yields climbed after data showed manufacturing activity in the New York region contracted at a notably slower rate in June, with optimism about the six-month outlook for business activity reaching a more than two-year high.

The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite and the S&P 500 gained 1 percent and 0.8 percent, respectively to reach new record closing highs amid continued momentum for big tech stocks. The Dow edged up half a percent.