There was a strong start on Wall Street for the start of the second quarter for US stocks, which rose due to upbeat Chinese and US manufacturing data.
The Dow Jones Index on Monday rose 52 points to close at 13,264.
The Nasdaq Composite was up 28 points at 3120.
The US Institute for Supply Management's index of national factory activity rose to 53.4. A reading above 50 indicates expansion. China's Purchasing Managers Index hit an 11 month high.
But Europe's manufacturing sector shrank for an eighth consecutive month in March.
The FTSE 100 index in London rose 1.8%, the DAX in Frankfurt was up 1.6% and the CAC 40 in Paris was up 1.1%.
The Nikkei Index in Tokyo was up 26 points to 10,110.
The Australian 200 Index slipped 6 points to 43 29 and the NZX 50 rose fell 16 points to close at 3,494
At 8.30am on Tuesday, the New Zealand dollar was trading at 82.38 US cents, 79.00 Australian, 51.37 pence, 67.56 yen and 0.6180 euro. The Trade Weighted Index was at 73.18.
Brent crude oil was trading at $US125.29 per barrel and gold was trading at $US1677.63 per ounce.
