Nikkei 225 hits half-yearly highs on weaker Yen

The Asian equities advance on Tuesday, mainly driven by strong gains on the Japanese and Australian stocks after the sentiment was lifted amid a series of auspicious earnings results from the US. Over one third of US companies have now reported and 80% have beaten market expectations, as cited by Bloomberg.

The Japanese stocks benefit from ongoing Yen weakness against the greenback, as the US dollar extends its advance amid increased odds of a Dec Fed rate rise. Hence, yen’s relative weakness continues to provide support to the exporters’ stocks, sending the benchmark index to fresh six-month highs.

Meanwhile, Japan’s Nikkei 225 rises +0.65% to 17,351 points. The Australian S&P/ASX 200 advances 0.73% to 5,450. The Chinese equities waver, with the benchmark Shanghai Composite index trading muted around 3,130 levels, while CSI300 index also trades almost unchanged. Hong Kong markets lose -0.21% to trade around  23,550 levels.