Asian shares rose slightly on Tuesday, following Wall Street gains and seeing a certain amount of stability in crude oil prices before the Christmas holiday sets in.
MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan was 0.4 percent higher in afternoon trade while Australia's S&P/ASX 200 index added 0.2 percent.
China's CSI300 index was slightly higher, erasing earlier losses, while the Shanghai Composite was off its lows and down 0.1 percent after the previous day's rally.
Japan's Nikkei stock index ended down 0.2 percent, though higher than its early session lows.
On the continent, Germany's DAX was seen 0.6 percent higher, while France's CAC 40 is forecast to gain 0.6 percent. Financial spreadbetters at IG are expecting Britain's FTSE 100 to open 0.4 percent higher.
Michael Hewson, chief analyst at CMC Markets in London, told its clients that "While European markets were able to post gains last week, they still remain well below the levels that we saw at the beginning of the month.” And Kathy Lien, managing director for foreign-exchange strategy at BK Asset Management, said in a note Tuesday that "The prospect of a persistently strong dollar, sluggish global growth and lower commodity prices in the first half of the year means that earnings and stocks could suffer. We are looking for a correction in equities in early 2016."
Crude Futures Up Slightly
Meanwhile, U.S. crude futures extended early gains and added about 0.9 percent to $36.14 a barrel, pulling above a 2009 low of $33.98 hit in the previous session and Brent crude oil futures added 0.7 percent to $36.62 after skidding to $36.04 on Monday, their lowest since July 2004, as demand for heating oil slipped on warmer-than-normal temperatures.