Asian stocks traded mostly higher late Tuesday, with Japanese stocks led by exporters such as Toyota Motor Corp., which rallied after the yen softened against the US dollar.
The Nikkei 225 index rose 126.15 points, or 1.01 percent, to 12,658.28, while the blue-chip Hang Seng Index rose 290.30 points, or 1.3 percent, to 22,995.35.
Shares of Toyota ended 2.1% higher after shedding as much as 2.3% earlier. Shares of Honda Motor Co. were up 2.4%.
In other Tokyo trading, shares of Goodwill Inc. jumped 14.7%, its daily limit, after the Nikkei business daily reported that U.S. private-equity fund Cerberus Group and investment bank Morgan Stanley will purchase about 100 billion yen of the loans owed by the firm that were issued by Mizuho Bank
On the Chinese mainland, stocks gained as bargain-hunting offset continuing concerns about the U.S. economic outlook and worries that the central bank might move to counter inflation.
The benchmark Shanghai Composite Index rose 19.57 points, 0.5 percent, to close at 4,165.88, after dipping in the morning following the release of the February inflation data. The consumer price index rose 8.7 percent in the previous month compared to a year ago, its fastest annual rise since May 1996.
Elsewhere:
Malaysia's KLSE Composite climbed 2.8%, reversing part of a 9.5% drop in Monday's session.
Thailand's SET was up 1.4%.
India's Sensex added 1.3%.
New Zealand's NZX-50 fell 0.8%.
Australia's leading index fell as shares of miners such as Rio Tinto pulled back. Australia's S&P/ASX 200 eased 46 points, or 0.9%, to 5,134.20.
with files from other wire services
