Investing.com - Japanese stocks moved higher early on Tuesday in cautios trade as the market attempted to get a handle on regional and broader political events.
The Nikkei 225 rose 0.7% as the market came back online after a public holiday on Monday. Tokyo on Friday fell 1% and was the Asian market hit the hardest by a selloff at the end of last week.
But the initial shock of the a civilian airline shot down over the Ukraine proved short-lived.
Elsewhere in Asia, markets were barely moved as Australia's S&P/ASX 200 was 0.1% lower and South Korea's KOSPI added less than 0.1%.
The main economic data point due this week will be preliminary manufacturing data for China on Thursday. Recent data from China, including factory numbers as well as second-quarter growth figures, have helped support the view that Asia's largest economy has troughed after a slowdown earlier this year.
Indonesia will be in focus on Tuesday, as the country is likely to announce the winner of its presidential election later in the day. Hopes for a win by Jakarta governor Joko Widodo have supported the local benchmark throughout the year, with the Jakarta Stock Exchange Composite up 20% so far in 2014, gaining 5.1% in July alone.
Overnight, U.S. stocks felly amid fears the crises in Ukraine and Gaza may intensify and drag on global economic recovery.
The Dow 30 fell 0.29%, the S&P 500 index fell 0.23%, while the NASDAQ Composite index fell 0.17%.
Concerns that tensions in Ukraine could escalate kept investors camped out in safe-haven dollar positions and away from equities, especially amid reports that Ukrainian troops were moving into the rebel-held city of Donetsk only days after pro-Russian separatists allegedly shot down a Malaysian Airlines flight with a missile.
Meanwhile in the Middle East, Israel pressed on with its ground offensive in Gaza in a conflict that has killed over 500 Palestinians and several Israeli soldiers.
Earlier Monday, U.S. President Barack Obama said he was concerned about the violence and called for a ceasefire in Gaza.
Obama also accused pro-Russian separatists of tampering with evidence pointing to the cause for the Malaysian Airlines crash, adding that the burden lies on Russia to find and disclose that evidence, though the president's decision to forgo mentioning the possibility of fresh sanctions on Russia allowed stocks to come off earlier lows.
On Tuesday, the U.S. is to release reports on consumer price inflation and existing home sales.