Asian markets ended higher Tuesday, with banks driving Australian stocks up after an upbeat quarterly trading update from Westpac, while resource shares advanced in Tokyo on higher commodity prices.
The Nikkei 225 index in Tokyo gained 20.95 points, or 0.2%, to 10,034.25
Strong early gains in Sydney couldn't be sustained as investors looked to book profits amid persistent concerns about sovereign debt in Europe.
Some investors were sidelined by doubts about whether E.U. finance ministers would deliver an explicit rescue plan for fiscally stressed Greece.
The Australian market was lifted by Westpac, which jumped 6.2% after releasing its quarterly trading update showing a 33% jump in first-quarter cash earnings.
Other banks followed Westpac's lead, with Australia & New Zealand Banking Group gaining 2.9% and National Australia Bank climbing 3%.
OneSteel tacked on 5.6% after its first-half profit of 117 million Australian dollars ($104 million U.S.) beat expectations.
In Japan, higher crude-oil and gold prices boosted shares of Japan Petroleum Exploration , which climbed 2%, while commodities trading house Marubeni gained 1.6% and Sumitomo Metal Mining rose 1.8%.
Shares of Sumitomo Corp. were also in the spotlight, dropping 4.4% after the company launched a tender offer for up to 122.18 billion yen ($1.35 billion U.S.) to increase its stake in Jupiter Telecommunications to 40% from 27%.
The move challenges telecommunications major KDDI's $4-billion U.S. offer to acquire a 38% stake in Jupiter. Jupiter shares, listed on the Jasdaq stock exchange, rose 16.7%.
KDDI shares gained 0.1%. Deutsche Securities said the tender offer could prompt KDDI to sell a portion of its stake in Jupiter as KDDI has little reason to fight Sumitomo to become the leading shareholder.
Steelmakers propped up the South Korean market, where trading resumed after Monday's holiday, on hopes of higher steel prices. Posco gained 1.8%, and Hyundai Steel gained 3.1%.
In Australia, the minutes of the Reserve Bank of Australia's February meeting showed the decision to leave rates on hold at 3.75% was "finely balanced" and a resumption of increases is likely if the economy continues to improve as expected.
Despite the unexpected decision to pause in February, the minutes suggest more fine-tuning of policy is likely, and only the timing of the next hike remains unclear.
Elsewhere:
Markets in Shanghai, Singapore, Taiwan and Hong Kong were shut down for public holidays.
Korea’s Kospi Index nosed ahead 7.39 points, or 0.5%, to 1,601.05
New Zealand’s NZX Index gained 28.07 points, or 0.9%, to 3,087.61
Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 moved higher 22.30 points, or 0.5%, to 4,567.80
