Asia Shares Push Higher, Aussie Bourse Up

Asian stocks tracked Wall Street higher on Tuesday, ahead of a chorus of Federal Reserve officials due to speak later in the day.

Ebbing worries over political turmoil in Europe also added to the buoyant market mood, sending EUROSTOXX 50 futures 0.6% higher.

The Australian dollar held steady, and domestic shares rose ahead of the country's interest rate decision, Rae Wee reported for Reuters.

Ebbing worries over political turmoil in Europe also added to the buoyant market mood, sending EUROSTOXX 50 futures 0.6% higher, reversing some of its steep losses from last week. FTSE futures similarly rose 0.43%.

The main market focus in Asian hours on Tuesday was on the Reserve Bank of Australia's (RBA) policy decision, where expectations are for the central bank to stand pat on rates.

The Aussie was last 0.07% higher at $0.6617, while Australian shares jumped 0.9%, in line with its regional peers.

"The RBA is universally expected to keep rates on hold today," said Alvin Tan, head of Asia FX strategy at RBC Capital Markets. Elsewhere, MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan rose 0.68%, helped by an overnight rally on Wall Street.

“Optimism over a resilient economy, improving corporate earnings, and the potential start of rate cuts has supported equities, defying concerns that the rally has been concentrated in just a few mega-cap tech stocks," said Jameson Coombs, an economist at Westpac.

Japan's Nikkei advanced 0.83%, while Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index edged 0.14% higher. Chinese blue chips ticked up 0.17%.