Asia stocks rose on Tuesday, AP reported. Japan's Nikkei 225 index climbed 0.8 percent to 19,034.74 and the Hang Seng in Hong Kong jumped 0.9 percent to 24,349.69. South Korea's Kospi added 0.5 percent to 2,183.54 and the Shanghai Composite index was up 0.2 percent at 3,135.38. Shares were higher in Southeast Asia. Australian and New Zealand markets were closed for Anzac Day. Benchmark U.S. crude oil gained 23 cents to $49.46 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. On Monday the contract fell 39 cents to settle at $49.23 per barrel. Brent crude, which is used to price international oils, added 27 cents to $51.87 a barrel. It fell 36 cents to $51.60 per barrel in London. With expectations strengthening that the shared European economy will remain intact, the foreign-exchange market saw the value of the euro rise on Monday. By late morning Tuesday in Asia it was trading at $1.0858, down slightly from $1.0868. The dollar rose to 110.04 yen from 109.76 yen and the British pound slipped to $1.2779 from $1.2795.
