Asia-Pacific markets opened higher on Tuesday after oil prices eased following U.S. President Donald Trump's decision to postpone a planned attack on Iran.
The move helped improve risk sentiment across regional markets after concerns over a wider conflict in the Middle East had pushed oil prices higher in recent sessions.
Japan's Nikkei 225 rose 0.68%, while the broader Topix index gained 1.16%. South Korea's Kospi fell 1.06%, while the small-cap Kosdaq index was little changed. Australia's ASX 200 advanced 1.08%. Hong Kong's Hang Seng index futures traded at 25,558, compared with the benchmark index's previous close of 25,675.18.
Trump said in a post on Truth Social that U.S. military leaders were instructed to cancel a "scheduled attack of Iran tomorrow" after requests from the leaders of Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.
"A Deal will be made, which will be very acceptable to the United States of America, as well as all Countries in the Middle East, and beyond. This Deal will include, importantly, NO NUCLEAR WEAPONS FOR IRAN!," Trump said.
Trump also said he had directed military leaders "to be prepared to go forward with a full, large scale assault of Iran, on a moment's notice, in the event that an acceptable Deal is not reached."
Investors were also assessing Japan's first-quarter gross domestic product data, which showed the economy expanded at an annualised pace of 2.1% in the first three months of the year.
Markets were also watching a summit meeting scheduled later in the day between Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi and South Korean President Lee Jae Myung.
U.S. stock futures edged higher. Futures linked to the S&P 500 rose 0.1%, while Nasdaq 100 futures added 0.2%. Futures tied to the Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 25 points, or 0.05%.
On Wall Street, the S&P 500 slipped 0.07% to close at 7,403.05 on Monday, while the Nasdaq fell 0.51% to 26,090.73. Both indexes posted a second straight day of declines.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 159.95 points, or 0.32%, to end at 49,686.12.
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