Asian stocks plodded higher Tuesday, tracking slight gains on Wall Street and assisted by an absence of bad financial news. Japan's Nikkei 225 index - reopening after a three-day holiday weekend - rose 0.5 percent to 8,427.83. Hong Kong's Hang Seng index rose 0.3 percent to 18,915.61 while South Korea's Kospi jumped 1.6 percent to 1,856.42. Australia's S&P ASX 200 rose 0.9 percent at 4,140.40. Benchmarks in Singapore, Taiwan, Indonesia and mainland China also rose. New Zealand's fell. Markets found "some relief on the lack of specific negative news," analysts at Credit Agricole CIB said in a report. They added, however, that no dramatic upticks were expected. As attention shifts to upcoming sovereign bond auctions in Europe and a European Central Bank policy meeting, "investors will likely remain cautious," analysts said. On Wall Street, stocks remained subdued Monday. The Dow closed up 0.3 percent at 12,392.69. The broader Standard & Poor's 500 index gained 0.2 percent to 1,280.70. The Nasdaq composite index rose 0.1 percent to 2,676.56. European markets closed lower Monday. French and German leaders met to craft the regional fiscal treaty that they agreed to pursue last year. The treaty would strengthen controls of spending by the 17 countries that use the euro. Excessive borrowing by nations such as Greece has hurt the European economy and roiled the financial industry. Greece, Ireland and Portugal have all been bailed out but the fear in the markets is that much-bigger Italy and Spain may end up needing financial assistance. The yield on Italy's benchmark ten-year bonds on Monday continued to hover around the 7 percent mark, widely considered to be unsustainable in the long run.