Most Asian indexes made gains on Tuesday, with the yen falling to its weakest levels in around four months against the dollar.
The Nikkei 225 gained 114.5 points, or 0.6%, to 20,195.48
The Hang Seng Index leaped 377.58 points, or 1.5%, to 25,877.64
The yen traded at 114.38 to the U.S. dollar late Tuesday afternoon local time — its weakest level in about four months. The yen traded at levels around 114.06 yen in the previous season.
That came as traders eyed the interest rate differential between U.S. Treasurys and Japanese government bonds as the U.S. Federal Reserve appeared set to pursue a more hawkish policy, while the Bank of Japan continued its quantitative easing to keep rates in Japan low.
In individual stocks, Taiwan-listed companies making up part of Tesla's supply chain were mixed after shares of the automaker climbed during U.S. trade. Bizlink and fastener supplier QST rose 2.2% and 0.5% respectively, but Hota Industrial slid 1.5%
Shares of Japanese automaker Suzuki closed down 1.8% amid media headlines that Dutch prosecutors were looking into a possible misuse of emissions software.
Meanwhile, shares of Japan Post Holdings closed up 1.9% following a Nikkei report that the Japanese finance ministry would not sell shares of the company as initially planned.
Major gaming stocks listed in Hong Kong traded in the money. Wynn Macau was up 0.7%, Sands China rose 0.7% and Galaxy Entertainment was up 0.5%.
Shares of Singapore-listed commodity trader Noble Group traded up 5.6% after Goldilocks Investment Company — a fund launched by Abu
Dhabi Financial Investment — raised its stake in Noble from 5% to 8.2% a Singapore Exchange filing showed on Monday.
In other markets
The CSI 300 regained 17.12 points, or 0.5%, to 3,670.81, an 18-month high
In Taiwan, the Taiex index gained 125.66 points, or 1.2%, to 10,415.57
In Korea, the Kospi index added 13.9 points, or 0.6%, to 2,396
In Singapore, the Straits Times Index shed 27.55 points, or 0.9%, to 3,296
In New Zealand, the NZX 50 recovered 44.62 points, or 0.6%, to 7,628.57
In Australia, the ASX 200 took on 4.49 points, or 0.1%, to 5,728.93
