Asian shares were mostly higher Tuesday, encouraged by news on the development of coronavirus vaccines. Japan's benchmark Nikkei 225 jumped 2.5% to 26,159.97 in afternoon trading. Australia's S&P/ASX 200 gained 1.3% to 6,644.10. South Korea's Kospi added 0.6% to 2,617.05. Hong Kong's Hang Seng inched up less than 0.1% to 26,500.81, while the Shanghai Composite slipped 0.5% to 3,398.47, AP reported. Benchmark U.S. crude inched up 54 cents to $43.60 a barrel. Brent crude, the international standard, gained 53 cents to $46.59 a barrel. In currency trading, the U.S. dollar edged up to 104.38 Japanese yen from 103.72. The euro cost $1.1855, down from $1.1905.
