Asian shares rise on Wall St rally, China data

HONG KONG: Asian markets rose on Tuesday following another positive lead from Wall Street, while slightly higher-than-expected Chinese inflation provided some upbeat news about the world's number two economy.

Shares were also supported by bargain hunting after the region suffered a sell-off Monday on concerns about the US Federal Reserve's stimulus programme.

Tokyo rose 1.36 percent, Hong Kong advanced 0.57 percent, Sydney climbed 1.31 percent, Seoul was up 0.37 percent and Shanghai added 0.23 percent.

A generally upbeat mood permeated trade, with Wall Street's three main indices ending higher for a second straight session following another strong round of jobs data, while worries about political instability in Portugal also subsided.

The Dow rose 0.59 percent, the S&P 500 added 0.53 percent and the Nasdaq put on 0.16 percent.

US investors were also looking ahead to the earnings season, hoping for some strong guidance for the second half of the year.

Asia suffered a sell-off Monday after the US Labor Department said a lot more jobs were created in June than expected, stoking concerns the Fed would soon start reel in its monetary easing scheme put in place to boost the economy.

However, Michael Hewson, an analyst at CMC Markets UK, said it "appears that markets are coming around to the idea that the idea of tapering may not be such a bad thing".

The upbeat outlook for the US economy has sent the dollar higher against the yen. The greenback stood at 101.21 yen in early trade, compared with 100.99 yen late Monday in New York.

The euro bought $1.2850 and 130.06 yen, from $1.2868 and 129.96 yen.

In China, the National Bureau of Statistics said inflation hit 2.7 percent in June, up from 2.1 percent in the previous month, and higher than the 2.5 percent forecast.