06:37 AM EDT, 08/13/2024 (MT Newswires) -- Asian stock markets trudged higher Tuesday, led by a strong tech rally in Japan as investors in Tokyo returned to trading floors after a three-day weekend.

Hong Kong and Shanghai also finished in the green, as did most other regional exchanges.

In Japan, the Nikkei 225 opened sharply higher and rose to the close, finishing up 3.5% as traders embraced tech issues on overnight Wall Street cues. Export stocks also rose on a softer yen.

The benchmark Nikkei 225 advanced 1,207.51 to 36,232.51, as gaining issues outnumbered losers 198 to 25.

Leading the upside was electrical equipment maker Fujikura, up 11%, while electronics house Sharp declined 5.9%.

In economic news, Japan's producer price index rose 3% on the year in July, reported the Bank of Japan.

In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng Index opened higher, wobbled, but finished up 0.4% as traders looked for values after recent bear moves.

The broad gauge Hang Seng rose 62.41 to 17,174.06, as gaining issues outnumbered losers 45 to 35. The Hang Seng TECH Index was steady on the day, while the Mainland Properties Index fell 0.4%.

Leading the upside was China Unicom HK, gaining 3.2%, while Alibaba Health Information Technologies fell 4.9%.

On the mainland, the Shanghai Composite rose 0.3% to 2,867.95.

On the other regional exchanges, the S. Korean KOSPI rose 0.1%; the Taiwan TWSE inclined 0.1%; the Australian ASX 200 advanced 0.2%; the Singapore Straits Times Index rose 0.7%, and the Thai Set inclined 0.1%. In late trading in Mumbai, the Sensex was down 0.9%.