Asia stocks rise on muted hope for central bank action; Nikkei up 0.53%

Investing.com - Asian stocks rose on Tuesday on hopes central banks around the world will reactivate monetary stimulus measures to get the global economy moving again.

During Asian trading on Tuesday, Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index was up 0.44%, Australia's S&P/ASX200 was up 0.39%, while Japan’s Nikkei 225 Index was up 0.53%.

Talk has been building for some time that central banks around the world will loosen policy via monetary easing tools, which boost stock prices as a side effect, though patience grew a little tested on Tuesday.

Germany recently voiced support for a European Central Bank plan to buy sovereign debt in the open market to lower borrowing costs in countries like Italy and Spain, though investors grew wary of the plan becoming reality on sentiment many technical details must first be worked out.

Investors largely shrugged off the Sentix Investor Confidence Index for the eurozone, which fell to -30.3 in August from -29.6 in July, though better than market calls for a -31.0 reading.

The Bank of Japan, meanwhile, is currently holding a monetary policy meeting and is due to announce its decision on interest rates on Thursday.

Stronger-than-expected jobs numbers out of the U.S. plus talk the European Central Bank and the Federal Reserve will stimulate their economies to spur recovery may give the Bank of Japan room to hold off on easing policy at home.

The Bank of Japan moved earlier this year to stimulate its economy though growth may be picking up on its own to allow monetary policy authorities to stand down.

Meanwhile, the Reserve Bank of Australia is meeting and market forecasts seeing the monetary authority keeping benchmark interest rates unchanged at 3.5%.

Still, investors went long on stocks on sentiment that sooner or later, central banks will loosen policy in some shape or form, the Federal Reserve and the European Central Bank most likely.

The U.S. economy added a net 163,000 net nonfarm payrolls in July, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, far more than market expectations for a gain of 100,000 and well above June's revised figure of 64,000.

However, separate government date showed that households reported that 195,000 fewer people were employed, which rekindled expectations for Federal Reserve intervention.

In Hong Kong, top gainers included Esprit Holdings, up 3.41%, China Resources, up 3.37%, and CHALCO, up 2.80%.

In Australia, top gainers included Beadell Resources, up 7.81%, Bradken Limited, up 7.56%, and Linc Energy, up 6.80%.

European stock futures indicated a mixed opening.

France's CAC 40 futures pointed to a gain of 0.08%, while Germany's DAX 30 futures signaled a gain of 0.09%. Meanwhile, in the U.K., the FTSE 100 futures indicated a loss of 0.04%.

Dow Jones Industrial Average futures were down 0.03% while the S&P 500 futures were down 0.03% as well.

Later Tuesday, Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke is to speak at an event in Washington, D.C.

Japan will release bank lending figures.