Japan, Hong Kong Shares Gain; Europe Up

In Europe, Britain's FTSE 100 gained 0.6%, Germany's DAX was up 0.4% and France's CAC-40 added 0.5%. U.S. futures suggested stocks would rise when the market opens on Wall Street Tuesday.

In Tokyo trade, the Nikkei 225 stock average jumped 194.56, or 1.9%, to 10,378.03 as the dollar held above the 91 yen line.

Weighing down the yen were comments by Bank of Japan Governor Masaaki Shirakawa indicating that interest rates would remain close to zero for the time being.

"The market was hopeful that Shirakawa may offer additional cues later today pointing toward further monetary easing, which would push the yen even lower," said Fumiyuki Nakanishi, chief equity strategist at SMBC Friend Securities in Tokyo.

Hong Kong's Hang Seng climbed 143.94, or 0.7%, to 21,092.04. China's Shanghai index slid 2.3% to 3,050.52 with losses led by real estate shares.

A short-lived rally in Chinese shares on Monday fizzled amid concern about the direction of economic policy after the government announced it would take steps to slow a rise in housing prices, analysts said.

Oil hung near $74 a barrel in Asia amid expectations OPEC will leave production levels unchanged at a meeting Tuesday.

Benchmark crude for February delivery was up 24 cents to $73.94 in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The contract fell 70 cents to settle at $73.72 on Monday.

In currencies, the dollar rose to 91.27 yen. The euro rose 0.3% to $1.4325.

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