Asian stocks up on results from US Aluminium maker

Asian stock markets rose Tuesday as sentiment strengthened on better-than-expected earnings results from US aluminum maker Alcoa Inc.

Japan's Nikkei 225 stock average added 0.4 percent to 9,584.88, and Seoul's Kospi advanced 0.6 percent to 1,744.62. Australia's S&P/ASX 200 rose 0.2 percent to 4,417.8.

In New York on Monday, stocks finished just slightly higher as investors grew cautious ahead of second-quarter earnings reports.

But they got some good news after trading ended when Alcoa reported upbeat results. The manufacturing giant kicked off earnings season by reporting net income of $136 million, or 13 cents share, for the quarter ending June 30. That compared with a loss of $454 million, or 47 cents a share, a year ago.

The Dow Jones industrial average rose 0.2 percent to 10,216.27. The Standard & Poor's 500 index rose 0.1 percent, to 1,078.75, while the Nasdaq composite index rose 1.91, or 0.1 percent, to 2,198.36.

In currencies, the dollar stood at 88.66 yen from 88.63 yen late Monday. The euro was trading at $1.2604 from $1.2587.