Asia starts quiet session on high note

Asian markets were off to a strong start on Tuesday, in what is likely to be an otherwise quiet session, with little on the data calendar for the region and Japanese markets on their second day of three off.

Equities were beginning to make back the previous day's losses on Tuesday, with most of the main indices trading higher, while currency markets were little changed.

The US dollar gained broadly overnight as Federal Reserve (Fed) officials indicated that a rate hike before the New Year was still possible.

Japanese bourses were closed on Tuesday for a bank holiday.

Hong Kong's benchmark Hang Seng index advanced 0.18% to 21,796.55 points at the opening bell on Tuesday, and mainland China's benchmark Shanghai Composite grew 0.14% to 3,160.80 points at the same time, while Korea's benchmark Kospi index rose 0.17% to 1,968.00 points this morning in Seoul.

The benchmark Australian S&P/ASX 200 index rose 0.79% to 5,106.20 points in Sydney, partly undoing Monday's sharp losses.

New Zealand's benchmark S&P/NZX 50 index crept up 0.16% to 5,692.45 points this afternoon in Wellington.