Asian markets ended higher on Tuesday as oil prices extended overnight gains and China's central bank set the yuan fixing stronger for the first time in six days. China stocks closed up after the central bank's surprise monetary policy easing, shrugging off disappointing manufacturing and service sector surveys that highlighted the wider challenges faced by the world's second-largest economy. Late on Monday, the People's Bank of China announced a cut in the amount of cash that banks must hold as reserves - the reserve ratio requirement (RRR) - by 50 basis points. It frees up an estimated $100 billion in cash for fresh lending. Chinese government data showed activity in large factories contracted for the seventh straight month in February. The official manufacturing Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI) stood at 49.0, down from 49.4 in January. China's official services PMI fell to 52.7 in February, from 53.5 in January. Japanese shares closed higher after declining as much as 1.1 percent earlier in the day amid the yen's strength and disappointing capital spending, household spending and corporate profits data.
| Asian Indices | Last Trade | Change in Points | Change in % |
| Shanghai Composite | 2,733.17 | 45.19 | 1.68 |
| Hang Seng | 19,407.46 | 295.53 | 1.55 |
| Jakarta Composite | 4,779.98 | 9.03 | 0.19 |
| KLSE Composite | 1,670.82 | 16.07 | 0.97 |
| Nikkei 225 | 16,085.51 | 58.75 | 0.37 |
| Straits Times | 2,682.39 | 15.88 | 0.60 |
| KOSPI Composite | - | - | - |
| Taiwan Weighted | 8,485.69 | 74.53 | 0.89 |