Asian markets moving higher
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Latham is the new leader of the opposition Labor Party in Australia.
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(CNN) -- Asian markets are broadly higher at midday Tuesday following rallies in Europe and on Wall Street.
But most gains are modest, with Australia, Hong Kong and Taiwan posting the best advances of about 0.4 percent each.
In Tokyo, the Nikkei 225 average has finished the morning session 0.35 percent higher at 10,439.73, adding to Monday's spectacular 3 percent rise.
The broader Topix is 0.32 percent higher to 1023.81.
Markets in South Korea, Singapore and New Zealand are about 0.2 percent ahead.
Resources stocks in Australia got a boost from higher metal prices and the election of a new leader for the opposition Australian Labor Party.
Newcomer Mark Latham, 42, defeated veteran Kim Beazley for the leadership in a close 47-45 vote count, following last week's decision by incumbent Simon Crean to step down. ((Full story)
Latham will now lead Labor into an election campaign next year against John Howard's coalition government.
The Australian dollar is again trading strongly against the greenback Tuesday, touching a fresh six-year high of 72.88 U.S. cents before settling back to 72.76 cents.
Against the yen, the dollar is trading at 109.21 yen in Tokyo. The moves in Asia follow the U.S. dollar's slump to a record low Monday against the euro.
Also having an impact on the Australian market is the expectation that the central Reserve Bank of Australia will raise interest rates by 0.25 percentage points on Wednesday morning.
The benchmark S&P/ASX200 is 0.4 percent higher to 3183.0, buoyed by a massive 3.2 percent lift for resources leader BHP Billiton to A$11.42 on stronger copper prices in the United States.
Rival resources group Rio Tinto is up almost 2.2 percent to A$35.54.
There are slight gains for market heavyweight News Corp., leading telco Telstra and big bank NAB. But most other banks are in the red.
Qantas is 1.8 percent higher to A$3.40 after unveiling a new low-cost domestic carrier, Jetstar. (Full story)
Westfield America Trust is lower after announcing it is selling its retail interest in the World Trade Center in New York. (Full story)
In Tokyo, some big banks are posting gains, with a 1.7 percent rise for UFJ to 488,000 yen and 1 percent for SMFG. Mizuho is steady at 294,000 yen.
Leading exporter Toyota is 1.5 percent ahead to 3390 yen. but Nissan is down 2 percent and Honda is off 1.8 percent.
Tech-related stocks are mixed with falls for Fujitsu and Toshiba, but a solid 2.5 percent gain for NEC. Hitachi and Kyocera are also in the black.
Consumer electronics leader Sony is down 2.9 percent to 3690 yen.
Fuji Photo Film is 1.5 percent ahead to 3240 yen after announcing it will boost production of LCD film. (Full story)
South Korea's Kospi is 0.11 percent ahead to 808.33, helped by gains for big exporter Hyundai Motor and market heavyweight Samsung Electronics.
SK Telecom is steady at 193,000 won, but leading bank Shinhan is down 1.4 percent.
Taiwan's Taiex is 0.32 percent ahead to 5889.08, with a gain of 2.3 percent to T$65.50 for chip foundry TSMC. Smaller rival UMC is 2 percent ahead to T$30.70.
Singapore's Straits Times index is 0.17 percent higher to 1740.70. DBS Bank is up 2.8 percent to S$14.70.
Hong Kong's Hang Seng index, which closed at a 28-month high Monday, is up another 0.4 percent to 12,506.30.
The gains in Asia follow a strong performance on Wall Street Monday, where a surge in manufacturing activity pushed the Dow Jones industrial average up 1.2 percent to a fresh 18-month high.
The tech-heavy Nasdaq did even better, putting on 1.5 percent to close at a 22-month high. (Full story)
