Hong Kong stocks jumped over four percent after China's Politburo signaled it would step up support for the stuttering economy.
"The question is will they acknowledge that or maintain a hawkish position over the rest of the summer?" said Erlam.Wall Street indices advanced, with the Dow eking out a 0.1 percent increase for its 12th straight positive session. The Ifo institute's closely-watched confidence barometer, based on a survey of 9,000 companies, fell to 87.3 points in July from 88.6 points last month.