Japan's Nikkei share average rose on Tuesday and was poised to snap a four-day losing run after Wall Street shares rallied overnight, with the dollar's bounce lifting exporter shares. The Nikkei was up 2.15 per cent at 21,491.28 as of 0128 GMT.
The index had suffered four straight days of losses prior, with global risk sentiment hit after US President Donald Trump proposed tariffs for imported steel and aluminium last week. Equity markets rebounded, however, as fears of a global trade war ebbed somewhat on the back of rising expectations that Trump would back down from his tariff imposition.
Automakers, which are large consumers of steel and aluminium, bounced. Automakers are also major exporters and the dollar's rebound versus the yen provided extra support.
Honda Motor Co rose 2.4 per cent, Toyota Motor Corp gained 1.7 per cent and Subaru Corp climbed 1.4 per cent. Panasonic Corp gained 2.2 per cent and Tokyo Electron added 3.5 per cent. Steel shares also rose, with Nippon Steel & Sumitomo Metal advancing 1.75 per cent, JFE Holdings gaining 2.35 per cent and Kobe Steel adding 0.9 per cent.
The broader Topix was 1.77 per cent higher at 1,724.75. The dollar was at 106.325 yen, having recovered from a 15-month low of 105.240 plumbed on Friday.