Asian shares surged to multi-month highs on Tuesday, benefiting from Wall Street's earlier rise, while oil prices regained their footing after a union strike in Kuwait halted nearly half the production temporarily, offering some support to the strained prices and propelling energy shares across the globe.
Japan's Nikkei index led the risers in Asia, jumping 3.68% to 16,874 and recovering all of its Monday's losses, while Australian shares gained a little over one percent, trading at a one-month high. China's Shanghai index bucked the trend however, slipping 0.21% as investors wait for the government's next steps to propel the economy.
Oil prices rebounded strongly after slumping seven percent at the start of yesterday's session, with Brent crude futures up 32 cents on the day, or 0.75% to trade at $43.23 a barrel, while U.S. crude futures climbed 26 cents, or 0.65% to hover around $41.49 a barrel.
Precious metals managed to hold on to their gains even as the risk appetite recovered strongly, with gold futures up a tiny $1.50, or 0.12% to trade at $1,236 an ounce, while silver futures advanced nearly six cents, or 0.35% to $16.30 an ounce.
Investors wait for an array of economic data later, with a key survey tracking economic sentiment in Germany expected to rise to 13.9 in April, compared to March's 10.6, which would be positive for the Eurozone ahead of the ECB meeting a few days later.
From the United States, building permits are expected to have climbed to an annualized 1.20 million permits in March, up from February's 1.18 million, which would indicate an upbeat housing sector in the world's largest economy, offering some support for the greenback.