The Reserve Bank of Australia unexpectedly hiked its cash rate by 25 basis points to 3.85% after holding its benchmark policy rate at steady at 3.6% in their April meeting. The Australian dollar strengthened by 0.6% to 0.6677 against the U.S. dollar after the move.
In Japan, the Nikkei 225 gained 34.77 points, or 0.9%, to close Tuesday at 29,157.95.
In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng returned from a long weekend to collect 39.24 points, or 0.2%, to 19.933.81.
Korean markets took on new ground as the nation’s inflation rate slowed to a 14-month low of 3.7%
In other markets
Markets in mainland China remained shuttered from the May Day holiday.
In Singapore, the Straits Times index obtained 11.48 points, or 0.4%, to 3,281.99.
In Korea, the Kospi picked up 22.86 points, or 0.9%, to 2,524.39.
In Taiwan, the Taiex index jumped 57.3 points, or 0.4%, to 15,636.48.
In New Zealand, the NZX 50 recovered 34.84 points, or 0.3%, to 12,037.81.
In Australia, the ASX 200 dipped 67.16 points, or 0.9%, to 7,267.40.
