Bangkok - Asian stock markets rose on Tuesday as tensions on the Korean peninsula eased a few notches.
Investors spent the previous day worried about possible North Korean retaliation against South Korean military drills on a frontline island that was shelled by the North last month.
Instead, Pyongyang backed off threats to strike back and reportedly offered concessions on its nuclear program.
Japan's Nikkei 225 stock average climbed 1.5% to 10 370.53 after the Bank of Japan kept monetary policy unchanged at the current super loose setting after a key survey last week showed deteriorating business sentiment.
Japanese exporters climbed, with Sony up 2.7% and Canon adding 1.6%.
Hong Kong's Hang Seng index added 1.4% to 22 966.08. South Korea's Kospi advanced 0.8% to 2 037.09 and Australia's S&P/ASX 200 was up 0.8% at 4 771.90.
China's Shanghai Composite Index jumped 1.8% to 2 904.30. Markets in Taiwan, India, and Singapore also rose.
In New York on Monday, low trading volumes and a lack of economic reports kept stocks confined to a narrow range on Monday. Indexes finished mixed and bond yields were barely changed.
The Dow Jones industrial average fell 13.78, to 11 478.13. The broader Standard and Poor's 500-stock index rose 3.17, to 1 247.08. The Nasdaq composite index gained 6.59, to finish at 2 649.56.
In currencies, the dollar slipped to ¥83.70 from ¥83.78 late on Monday. The euro rose to $1.3196 from $1.3126.
Benchmark oil for February delivery gained 12c to $89.49 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The contract rose 77c to settle at $89.37 on Monday.