Asian equities were higher on Tuesday, with the ASX recovering earlier losses to struggle into positive territory.
The Nikkei 225 Index powered ahead 136.98 points, or 0.8%, to 16,735.65
In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng index hiked 105.01 points, or 0.5%, to 23,689.44
China Evergrande Group jumped 8.4% in Hong Kong, after it unveiled plans to spin off most of its property assets and list them on the Shenzhen stock exchange in search of a better valuation.
Evergrande said on Monday that it would become the controlling shareholder of Shenzhen Real Estate, after the state-backed Shenzhen property developer issued new shares and cash to an Evergrande subsidiary, in exchange from Chinese property assets.
On Friday, China said it would remove the consumption tax on non-luxury cosmetic products and adjust the consumption tax rate on high-end cosmetics and beauty products to 15% from 30%, effective Oct.1.
China's cosmetics tax cut was also a positive for cosmetics manufacturer Cosmax, which plans to open a new factory in China. Shares of Cosmax traded up 6.3%
The announcement boded well for South Korea's two largest cosmetics companies, with Amorepacific, owner of the Innisfree brand, up 1.4%, and LG Household & Health Care up 1.6% in response.
China's cosmetics tax cut was also a positive for cosmetics manufacturer Cosmax, which plans to open a new factory in China. Shares of Cosmax traded up 6.3%
Also in South Korea, Samsung Group's bio-pharmaceutical manufacturing unit BioLogics said its planned initial public offering was expected to raise up to 2.25 trillion won ($2.04 billion U.S.), Reuters reported.
Australian markets eked up, buoyed by the materials sub-index, which rose 0.6%, and energy sub-index, which gained 0.9%
The Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) held cash rates steady at 1.5%, saying it would assess the impact of previous cuts in August and May.
Gaming solutions developer Aristocrat Leisure jumped 1.5% to A$16.28, its highest in nine years, after Reuters reported that the Australian firm reached a cross-licensing agreement with U.S.-based International Game Technology.
In other markets
Markets in Shanghai remain shuttered all this week.
In Korea, the Kospi returned to trading Tuesday, gaining 11.23 points, or 0.6%, to 2,054.86
The Straits Times Index in Singapore gathered 13.8 points, or 0.5%, to 2,884.64
In Taiwan, the Taiex Index gained 53.57 points, or 0.6%, to 9,287.77
In New Zealand, the NZX 50 sank 20.03 points, or 0.3%, to 7,352.46
In Australia, the ASX 200 moved higher 5.49 points, or 0.1%, to 5,484
