Investing.com - Most Asian bourses rallied in Tuesday's session on optimism that U.S. policymakers are inching closer to a resolution for the fiscal cliff.
In Asian trading Tuesday, Japan's Nikkei 225 surged 1.33% as traders bid up Japanese equities following victory by Shinzo and Liberal Democratic Party in Sunday's elections. Ahead of the Bank of Japan meeting scheduled for Wednesday and Thursday, traders are expecting the central bank to announce new yen-weakening measures. That could provide another near-term boost for Japanese stocks.
Hong Kong's Hang Seng added 0.18% while the Shanghai Composite jumped 0.73%. Those gains came despite news from China's Ministry of Finance that showed foreign direct investment in the world's second-largest economy fell in November for the 12th time in 13 months.
In other Chinese economic news, the National Bureau of Statistics reported that home prices in 53 of 70 Chinese cities rose last month.
Elsewhere, South Korea's Kospi added 0.47% while Singapore's Straits Times Index climbed 0.26% as riskier assets were bid high on fresh fiscal cliff optimism.
President Obama has made an offer to Congressional Republicans to raise taxes on households earning more than $400,000 a year. That is well above Obama's original offer of tax increases on those earning more than $250,000 a year, but well below House Speaker John Boehner's plan to raise taxes only on those earning more than $1 million per year.
Obama and Boehner met again today and while the two sides still appear far apart, traders might be encouraged by some signs of compromise. U.S. lawmakers have until January 1, 2013 to avert the fiscal cliff before a spate of tax increases and spending cuts take effect.
In Australia, the S&P/ASX 200 Index added 0.74% while New Zealand's NZSE 50 climbed 0.47%. S&P 500 futures climbed 0.24%.
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The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc.
