Asia-Pacific markets rise as Hong Kong tech stocks rally; Baidu shares pop 11%

Asia-Pacific markets rose on Tuesday, tracking gains on Wall Street, which ticked up after U.S. retail sales data appeared to ease recession concerns.

Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index led gains in Asia, rising 2.07% on the back of strong moves in tech giants like Baidu, which was up 11.35% as at 1.52 p.m. local time.

Meanwhile, mainland China’s CSI 300 was up 0.30%, reversing course from losses in the previous session.

Investors will be keeping a close watch on Japanese markets, as the Bank of Japan kicks off its two-day monetary policy meeting on Tuesday. The central bank is widely expected to hold interest rates steady at 0.5% when the meeting concludes on Wednesday.

The BOJ’s two-day meeting coincides with the U.S. Federal Reserve, with the latter also expected to keep interest rates unchanged.

Japan’s benchmark Nikkei 225 increased 1.30% in its last hour, while the broader Topix index rose 1.40%.

Over in South Korea, the Kospi index was flat in its final hour, while the small-cap Kosdaq added 0.18% in choppy trade.

Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 ended the day flat at 7,860.40, paring gains from earlier in the session.

India’s benchmark Nifty 50 advanced 1.08%, while the BSE Sensex increased 1.16%.

U.S. futures edged down, even after all three benchmarks made a comeback from a four-week decline exacerbated by falling consumer confidence and U.S. President Donald Trump’s chaotic tariff policy rollout.

The S&P 500 gained 0.64% to close at 5,675.12, while the Nasdaq Composite climbed 0.31% and ended at 17,808.66. The Dow Jones Industrial Average also advanced 353.44 points, or 0.85%, to end at 41,841.63.

The 30-stock index was bolstered by gains in Walmart and International Business Machines. All three of the major averages posted back-to-back gains.

— CNBC’s Sean Conlon and Sarah Min contributed to this report.