Asian shares hit an eight-month high on Tuesday as optimism about Chinese measures to boost economic growth lifted mainland markets.
However, worries about US earnings and a crucial Brexit summit this week limited the regional gains.
MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan climbed 0.3 per cent, hovering near its highest level since Aug. 9 last year, reports Reuters.
Chinese blue chips advanced 0.15 per cent as investors cheered a plan unveiled by China’s state planner on Monday to relax residency curbs in many of its smaller cities and increase infrastructure spending.
Outside of China, however, broader sentiment was largely subdued as investors’ focus remained on potential flashpoints, including a crucial Brexit summit as well as a meeting on trade between the European Union and China set for later on Tuesday.
European shares were set to start on a cautious note, with London’s FTSE futures trading flat and Frankfurt’s DAX futures off 0.2 per cent. E-Mini futures for the S&P 500 lost 0.1 per cent.
Japan’s Nikkei drifted 0.1 per cent higher, while Australian shares traded a shade lower.
Wall Street shares delivered a mixed performance on Monday, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average losing 0.3 per cent while the S&P 500 added 0.1 per cent.
Concerns over slowing US earnings have undermined US equities in recent sessions, though a strong jobs report last week helped to soothe frayed nerves.
In currency markets, the euro rose slightly to $1.1263 after booking gains of nearly 0.4 per cent - its steepest one-day rise in nearly three-weeks - overnight.
Sterling advanced 0.1 per cent to $1.3081, but stayed not far from last month’s low of $1.2945.
Against the Japanese yen, the dollar was down 0.15 per cent at 111.35 yen, inching back toward its 1-1/2-month low of 109.70 touched on March 25.
In the commodity market, oil prices hovered near their highest since November 2018 on persistent worries about tightening supplies.
US crude was last up 11 cents at $64.51 a barrel, after brushing its highest since Nov. 1 last year. Brent crude futures tacked on 7 cents to $71.17.
Spot gold was up 0.2 per cent at $1,299.90 per ounce.
