Asian bourses were mostly higher on Tuesday tracking Wall Street's overnight gains amid easing geopolitical jitters save for markets in China and India.
MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan added 0.4 percent after jumping 1.5 percent on Monday. Japan's rose 0.4 percent, while the Nikkei firmed 0.2 percent.
Australia's main index was one of the major gainers, jumping 1.3 percent in the wake of strong data on business activity and home prices.
Singapore's Straits Times Index ticked higher after the city-state reported annualized economic growth of 0.1 percent in the second quarter when analysts had expected a slight contraction. Strength in the financial sector helped offset sluggish manufacturing activity.
There was also promising news on global trade with the Philippines enjoying its fastest export growth in six months in June.
European markets were expected to open a shade softer on Tuesday with financial spread betters tipping falls of between 0.1 percent and 0.2 percent for the FTSE 100 DAX and CAC 40.
Wall Street
Stocks on Wall Street posted gains for the second straight session on light trading volumes. The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed 0.1 percent higher, off of its earlier highs. The S&P 500 also shaved earlier gains but ended 0.3 percent higher, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq rose 0.7 percent, with pharmaceuticals among the top gainers.
The better mood came even though NATO chief Anders Fogh Rasmussen warned of a "high probability" that Russia, using the guise of a humanitarian mission, could intervene militarily in Ukraine.
Investors also monitored Iraq, where the United States recently began air strikes targeting Islamic State fighters marching on the country's Kurdish capital.
Major currencies were fenced in narrow ranges, with the U.S. dollar index a shade firmer at 81.537 after drifting in a 82 tick-range on Monday, a far cry from Friday's 336 tick-range.
The dollar bought 102.27 yen, off Friday's low of 101.51, while the euro fetched 136.80 yen, still well off a trough of 135.73 plumbed on Friday.