Asian markets rally after Wall Street snaps losing streak

Asian stocks rallied Tuesday, following strong gains on Wall Street that snapped five straight days of losses. Investors may have also been buoyed by increased optimism over a Brexit vote in the British Parliament later in the day after Prime Minister Theresa May won last-minute concessions from the EU on the so-called Irish backstop.

Japan’s Nikkei

NIK, +1.88%

gained 1.9% and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index

HSI, +1.50%

rose 1.4%. On the Chinese mainland, the Shanghai Composite

SHCOMP, +2.15%

advanced 1.5% while the smaller-cap Shenzhen Composite

399106, +2.54%

rose 1.7%. South Korea’s Kospi

SEU, +0.88%

nudged up 0.9% and Australia’s S&P/ASX 200

XJO, -0.09%