SINGAPORE — Shares in Asia-Pacific rose in Tuesday morning trade, with Chinese search giant Baidu set to make its debut in Hong Kong.
In Japan, the Nikkei 225 edged 0.7% higher in early trade while the Topix index gained 0.39%. South Korea’s Kospi climbed 0.73%.
Shares in Australia inched higher, with the S&P/ASX 200 rising 0.45%.
MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan traded 0.25% higher.
In corporate developments, Baidu’s stock is set to begin trading in Hong Kong on Tuesday, with shares priced at 252 Hong Kong dollars (about $32.45) each. The firm joins a long list of U.S.-listed Chinese tech companies that have done secondary offerings in Hong Kong, including Alibaba and JD.com.
Tech stock watch
Meanwhile, technology stocks in Asia-Pacific mostly rose in Tuesday morning trade. Shares of Japanese conglomerate Softbank Group gained 1.35% while South Korean industry heavyweight Samsung Electronics advanced 0.85%.
The moves in regional tech stocks came after their counterparts stateside rallied overnight amid declining bond yields, with the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite jumping 1.23% to close at 13,377.54.
Other major indexes on Wall Street also rose on the day: The S&P 500 advanced 0.7% to 3,940.59 while the Dow Jones Industrial Average climbed 103.23 points to 32,731.20.
The moves stateside came as the 10-year Treasury yield declined 5 basis points to around 1.68% (1 basis point equals 0.01%), following a 14-month high touched last week. It last stood at 1.684%.
Currencies
The U.S. dollar index, which tracks the greenback against a basket of its peers, was at 91.815 — still above levels below 91.5 seen last week.
The Japanese yen traded at 108.80 per dollar, stronger than levels above 108.75 against the greenback seen last week. The Australian dollar changed hands at $0.7745, still off levels above $0.78 seen last week.
— CNBC’s Arjun Kharpal contributed to this report.
Correction: This article was updated to accurately reflect the level of the U.S. dollar index.
Source: CNBC