Asia stocks rise on talk of monetary easing; Nikkei up 0.72%

Investing.com - Asian stocks rose on Tuesday after weak economic indicators around the world sparked talk that central banks will stimulate their respective economies.

During Asian trading on Tuesday, Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index was up 1.46%, Australia's S&P/ASX200 was up 0.07%, while Japan’s Nikkei 225 Index was up 0.72%.

Weak manufacturing figures and sluggish jobs reports fueled talk Tuesday that central banks will jolt their economies via bond buybacks from banks, known as quantitative easing, to spur recovery.

As a side effect to quantitative easing, the dollar weakens while stock markets across the globe rise.

Weak manufacturing data in the U.S. rekindled talk the Federal Reserve will stimulate the world's largest economy.

Earlier in the U.S., the Institute for Supply Management reported that its index of manufacturing activity fell to 49.7 in June from 53.5 in May.

New orders dropped to 47.8 from 60.1, while the employment gauge fell to 56.6 from 56.9.

On the index, a reading above 50.0 indicates industry expansion, while below indicates contraction.

June's figure was the lowest reading since July 2009 and well below analyst forecasts for the index to slip down to 52.0.

Meanwhile in Europe, the eurozone unemployment rate rose to a record high 11.1% in May from 11.0% in April, which fueled talk of European Central Bank action of some type, as did talk that some eurozone nations oppose European Union proposals to fight the debt crisis.

The European Central Bank has been more reticent of directly buying bonds to spur recovery but can roll out similar tools, namely low-cost loans to financial institutions.

E.U. leaders recently voted to give the European Stability Mechanism, a bailout fund, approval to recapitalize banks as well as the green light to buy government bonds to ease credit conditions in troubled countries, the latter measure drawing criticism from Finland and the Netherlands.

China's economy showed signs of cooling as well.

The HSBC Purchasing Managers' Index, which focuses on small and medium-sized companies, fell to 48.2 in June from 48.4 in May.

In Hong Kong, top gainers included Tencent, up 3.36%, China Life, up 3.36% as well, and China Shenhua, up 3.25%.

In Australia, top gainers included Linc Energy, up 8.03%, OM Holdings Limited, up 4.88%, and Aristocrat Leisure, up 4.49%.

European stock futures indicated a higher opening.

France's CAC 40 futures pointed to a gain of 0.13%, while Germany's DAX 30 futures signaled a gain of 0.01%. Meanwhile, in the U.K., the FTSE 100 futures indicated a gain of 0.02%.

Dow Jones Industrial Average futures were flat while the S&P 500 futures were up 0.08%.

Official U.S. manufacturing data will release later Tuesday.