Asian shares were mostly higher Tuesday on rising hopes for an effective vaccine to fight the coronavirus pandemic. Japan's benchmark Nikkei 225 gained 0.7% to finish at 22,884.22. South Korea's Kospi jumped 1.3% to 2,227.28. Australia's S&P/ASX 200 added 2.6% to 6,156.30. Hong Kong's Hang Seng rose 1.8% to 25,499.26, while the Shanghai Composite was little changed, edging up less than 0.1% higher, to 3,316.28, AP reported. The price of benchmark U.S oil added 11 cents to $40.92 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. It gained 22 cents to $40.81 a barrel Monday. Brent crude oil, the international standard, rose 17 cents to $43.45 a barrel. The U.S. dollar rose to 107.33 Japanese yen from 107.20 yen. The euro fell to $1.1443 from $1.1444.