Investing.com - Asian shares were mixed on Tuesday with Tokyo posting gains on a weaker yen while other bourses showed caution trade with tension on the Korean peninsula a factor.
The Nikkei 225 rose by 0.44% as the yen weakened slightly against the dollar after trading at a five-month low in the last session. Major Japanese bank stocks were higher by more than 2% across the board. Nomura Holdings led gains in the sector and was up by 2.22%.
The Shanghai Composite eased 0.16% as China reported house prices for March rose 11.3%, a dip down from 11.8% the previous month, while the S&P/ASX 200 fell 0.98% as the Reserve Bank of Australia April minutes signaled caution.
Overnight, U.S. stocks closed higher on Monday, after investors shrugged off geopolitical concerns, as U.S. earnings season came into focus, while weaker than expected economic data failed to weigh on sentiment.
The three main U.S. indexes bounced back with a win on Monday, following a negative end to the week last Friday, as the Dow notched nearly 200 points, despite weaker than expected New York area manufacturing data.
The Empire State manufacturing survey fell to a reading of 5.2 April, well below consensus expectations for a reading of 15.
Geopolitical tensions flared over the weekend, after North Korea attempted to fire a ballistic missile on Sunday but it blew up almost immediately.
Financials, mostly banks, led the march higher, after some of America’s biggest banks revealed impressive first quarter results last week, which fuelled expectations for stellar earnings reports from both Bank of America (NYSE:NYSE:BAC) and Goldman Sachs (NYSE:NYSE:GS) later this week.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed 0.90% higher at 20,636. The S&P 500 added 0.86% and the Nasdaq Composite closed 0.89% higher at 5856.