Japan's Nikkei average rose 1.3 percent on Tuesday, helped by broad buying on easing worries about the global economic recovery after strong European bank results helped to send Wall Street to a 10-week closing high. Earnings from BNP Paribas and HSBC topped forecasts and the US manufacturing sector grew in July for a 12th straight month, with growth slightly topping expectations. US stocks rose about 2 percent.
The benchmark Nikkei added 123.70 points to 9,694.01 after gaining as much as 1.9 percent, while the broader Topix rose 1 percent to 859.18. The dollar was flat against the yen at 86.47 yen, not far from an eight-month low of 85.95 yen hit late last week. The euro edged down 0.2 percent after posting sharp rises against the yen the day before.
On the technical front, the Nikkei's MACD has risen closer to its zero line, with a rise above this signalling upward momentum, though its relative strength index (RSI) remains neutral at 54.
But the benchmark will struggle to break above 9,800, a July peak that has blocked its advance several times over the past month, without some kind of strong, positive factor such as an easing of the yen, market players said. Some 1.79 billion shares changed hands on the Tokyo exchange's first section, staying near its lowest volume in about a week. Advancing stocks outnumbered declining ones by 3 to 1.
Exporters' shares climbed on Wall Street's gains, with electronics parts maker Kyocera Corp gaining 1.8 percent to 7,910 yen and chip-tester maker Advantest Corp rising 1.4 percent to 1,912 yen. Shares of trading houses gained after copper and oil prices surged on Monday to three-month highs, as data showing continued growth in global manufacturing eased fears of a double-dip recession.