A fall in the yen pushed Japan's stock market higher Tuesday, helping it lead a broad Asia-wide advance, although analysts said worries about the world economy and earnings would temper any rally.
World markets have been unable to maintain momentum after their progress in March, with concern growing that central banks may be running out of tools to kick-start growth and inflation.
Tokyo's Nikkei, which has been among the worst performers this year, enjoyed a rare rally Tuesday to add 1.1 percent, thanks to a dip in the yen, which supports exporters.
The dollar rose to 108.25 yen in Japanese trade, from 107.94 yen in New York, after Japan's finance minister reiterated that officials could still intervene in forex markets to stem the yen's steep rise.
Taro Aso said authorities were ready to take action as needed if there were extreme movements in the foreign exchange market, Bloomberg News reported. The comments follow similar announcements last week from himself and the government's top spokesman.
However, the greenback is still down about five percent from the start of the month as growing uneasiness sees traders shift into assets such as the yen which are considered a safe bet.
Dealers are also awaiting the upcoming corporate earnings season with trepidation. Mitsuo Shimizu, an equity strategist at Japan Asia Securities Group, told Bloomberg News: "Once we get bad earnings results it's possible that we'll see more disappointment."
- Wall of worry -
The gains in Tokyo were followed across most of the region, with Hong Kong ending up 0.3 percent and Sydney 0.9 percent higher. Seoul, Singapore and Taipei were also in positive territory.
In opening exchanges in Europe, London and Paris rose 0.1 percentwhile Frankfurt added 0.5 percent.
However, Shanghai ended 0.3 percent lower after Monday's climb, which was fuelled by upbeat inflation data that raised hopes China's struggling economy may have turned a corner.
John Stoltzfus, chief market strategist at Oppenheimer & Co. in New York, said there was little momentum to drive any meaningful rally.
"The market lacks enough conviction to move stocks in any one direction for any one amount of time long enough for investors to sink their teeth into and rack up performance," he said.
"There is an increased amount of scepticism and concern, mostly around earnings season. It boils down to a market that has to climb a wall of worry and has to earn its gains."
Regional energy firms edged higher after more gains in the price of oil on Monday, with expectations that a meeting of key producers on Sunday will see a deal to limit output. Hong Kong-listed CNOOC was up 0.6 percent and PetroChina was 1.2 percent higher, while in Tokyo Inpex was up 2.2 percent and JX Holdings 1.3 percent higher.
In Sydney, Rio Tinto and BHP Billiton each climbed more than two percent.
- Key figures around 0820 GMT -
Tokyo - Nikkei 225: UP 1.1 percent at 15,928.79 (close)
Shanghai - Composite: DOWN 0.3 percent at 3,023.65 (close)
Hong Kong - Hang Seng: UP 0.3 percent at 20,504.44 (close)
London - FTSE 100: UP 0.1 percent at 6,204.95
Euro/dollar: UP at $1.1428 from $1.1406 on Friday
Dollar/yen: UP at 108.25 yen from 107.94 yenNew York - Dow: DOWN 0.1 percent at 17,556.41 (close) AFP
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