South Korean shares jumped nearly 3 per cent on Tuesday after steep losses in the previous session as gains in heavyweight auto shares provided a boost, with investors also eyeing prospects for more stimulus to support an economic recovery, reports Reuters.
Regional equities gained further by early afternoon with MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan up more than 1 per cent. Bourses in India, Taiwan and Thailand gained between 1 per cent and 2 per cent.
South Korea's KOSPI jumped 2.6 per cent recovering from its worst fall in near three months on Monday. The benchmark index has surged more than 7 per cent so far this month following a 30 per cent jump in 2020.
Automaker Hyundai Motor and its affiliates led gains on the benchmark index, while heavyweight Samsung Electronics also rebounded, a day after its group leader was sentenced to a 30-month jail term in a bribery case.
Adding to the positive mood, South Korea's vice finance minister also said the government will soon unveil additional measures to revitalise consumption.
Currency traders looked ahead to US Treasury Secretary nominee Janet Yellen's Senate testimony later in the day for clues on the incoming Biden administration's policies and its implications for the US dollar.
Yellen is expected to affirm the United States' commitment to market-set currency rates and make clear that the US does not seek a weaker dollar, the Wall Street Journal reported.
"Yellen's comments on fiscal policy will perhaps be of more interest to investors, which indirectly could encourage USD shorts on the view that monetary and fiscal policy are singing from the same song sheet - maximum policy overdrive," said Stephen Innes, chief global market strategist at trading firm Axi.
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