Share indexes in Asia rose Tuesday following an overnight jump on Wall Street.
The Shenzhen index in China rose 2.073% on the day to 15,335.66 points. The Shanghai composite advanced 0.81% to 3,533.68 points. Hong Kong's Hang Seng index was 1.15% higher.
The Taiex in Taiwan also saw strong gains as it rose 2.27% to close at 15,760.05 points. South Korea's Kospi jumped 1.32% to end its trading day at 3,096.81 points.
In Japan, the Nikkei 225 gained 0.97% to close at 28,362.17 points while the Topix index advanced 0.94% to finish its trading day at 1,847.02 points.
The Japan government is set to extend the state of emergency covering Tokyo and other regions until March 7 to contain the coronavirus, local news reported.
In Australia the S&P/ASX 200 closed 1.49% higher at 6,762.60 points. MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan rose 1.33%.
The Reserve Bank of Australia on Tuesday announced its decision to maintain its cash rate at 0.1% as well as purchase an additional A$100 billion ($76.32 billion).
Asia indexes were moved for a second day Tuesday on increased optimism about economic stimulus and world recovery, while retail investors retreated from GameStop and their new-found interest in silver.
The momentum looked set to carry through into European trade, with FTSE futures up 0.66% and E-mini futures for the S&P 500 index rising 0.52%.
Markets were buoyant ahead of negotiations Tuesday between U.S. President Joe Biden and Republican senators on a new COVID support bill. The Republican's $618 billion stimulus plan released early Monday was about a third the size of the president's proposal. Top Democrats later Monday filed a joint $1.9 trillion budget measure in a step toward bypassing Republicans.
The dollar hovered near a seven-week high, benefiting from a euro selloff overnight after coronavirus lockdowns choked consumer spending in Germany, and on short-covering in overcrowded dollar-selling positions.
Elsewhere, a social media-driven buying spree lifted silver to an eight-year high overnight Monday though prices later pared gains on doubts about the ability of retail traders that have been focused on stocks to sway prices in the bigger, more liquid commodity.
Silver prices climbed to an eight-year peak of just over $30 an ounce before cooling off a little to trade up 6.3% at $28.70.
Spot gold also fell 0.3% Tuesday to $1,854.56 per ounce. U.S. gold futures slumped 0.34% to settle at $1,854.5 per ounce.
Brent crude was up 0.98% at $56.90 a barrel. U.S. crude gained 1.06% to $54.12 as falling inventories and rising fuel demand due to a massive snowstorm in the Northeast United States propped up prices.
At the same time, video game retailer GameStop Corp, at the center of last week's "Reddit rally," slid 30.8% to $225, but other shares caught up in the frenzy that has battered short-sellers extended their advance, including BlackBerry Ltd.
A lot of people who were anticipating a GameStop-like rally in silver "now realize there is not as much buying pressure pushing it up like some had thought," said Michael Matousek, head trader at U.S. Global Investors.
