Asian markets trade mostly higher in early deals on Tuesday

Most of the Asian equity benchmarks are trading up in the early deals on Tuesday, as investors awaited the Reserve Bank of Australia's policy meeting in which it is expected to keep interest rates steady. Though, absence of any lead overnight from Wall Street, which was closed for a public holiday, capped some gains. Japanese shares rose for a fifth day as the yen weakened and investors weighed the possibilities for stimulus from central banks. Among the other Asian markets, South Korea, Singapore, Indonesia, Shanghai, Hong Kong, Malaysia and Taiwan are higher. Bucking the trend, Indonesia is in negative territory.

Nikkei 225 added 37.63 points or 0.22% to 17,075.26, Hang Seng gained 76.54 points or 0.32% to 23,726.09, Taiwan Weighted surged 64.06 points or 0.70% to 9,154.19, Shanghai Composite jumped 0.76 points or 0.02% to 3,072.86, FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI rose 7.89 points or 0.47% to 1,685.97, Straits Times increased 31.36 points or 1.10% to 2,883.10, and KOSPI Index was up by 3.89 points or 0.19% to 2,063.97.

On the flip side, Jakarta Composite was down by 6.72 points or 0.13% to 5,350.23.