Investing.com - Asian stock markets were mostly higher on Tuesday, following a strong overnight session on Wall Street and as investors digested weaker than expected Chinese industrial output data.
During late Asian trade, Hong Kong's Hang Seng inched up 0.4%, China’s Shanghai Composite dipped 0.44%, Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 closed 0.91% higher, while Japan’s Nikkei 225 ended up 1.95%.
Asia was given a positive lead from the U.S., where the Dow Jones and S&P 500 closed at all-time highs, as indications that the U.S. economy is improving and strong earnings results fuelled a stock market rally.
In Tokyo, the Nikkei rallied to a one-week high as a weaker yen boosted sentiment. USD/JPY rose to a daily high of 102.31, the most May 2.
In earnings news, Sharp (TOKYO:6753) saw shares jump 5% after the electronics maker swung to a profit and predicted that profit would nearly triple in the current fiscal year.
Nissan (TOKYO:7201) tacked on 5% after the automaker reported better than expected quarterly earnings.
Elsewhere, in Australia, the ASX/200 Index rose to a nearly two-week high as gains in the mining sector boosted the benchmark index.
BHP Billiton (ASX:BHP) and Fortescue Metals Group (ASX:FMG) advanced 2.2% and 1.7% respectively, while OZ Minerals (ASX:OZL) surged 10% on the back of higher copper and nickel prices.
Meanwhile, shares in mainland China and Hong Kong came off the highest levels of the session after data released earlier showed that industrial production in China rose by an annualized rate of 8.7% in April, below expectations for a 8.9% increase.
A separate report showed that Chinese retail sales rose by a smaller-than-forecast 11.9% last month.
Looking ahead, European stock market futures pointed to a modestly higher open. The Euro Stoxx 50 pointed to a gain of 0.4%, France’s CAC 40 added 0.2%, London’s FTSE 100 indicated a rise of 0.3%, while Germany's DAX picked up 0.6%.
Across the Atlantic, U.S. equity markets also pointed to a firmer open. The Dow pointed to a gain of 0.15%, the S&P 500 inched up 0.1%, while the Nasdaq 100 indicated a rise of 0.1%.
The U.S. is to produce data on retail sales, as well as reports on import prices and business inventories later in the day.