Stocks in Asia traded higher in Tuesday morning trade following record finishes overnight on Wall Street.

In Japan, the Nikkei 225 added 0.83% in early trade as shares of index heavyweight and robot maker Fanuc jumped 2.36%. The Topix index gained 0.65%, while South Korea’s Kospi edged 0.22% higher.

Meanwhile, shares in Australia gained in morning trade as the S&P/ASX 200 advanced about 0.68%. Shares of Westpac jumped more than 1.7% after the firm announced the resignation of its CEO and early retirement of its chairman. Shares of the lender have seen strong movements in recent days as the company is rocked by a money-laundering scandal.

Overall, the MSCI Asia ex-Japan index traded 0.19% higher.

Investors are waiting for Alibaba's debut in Hong Kong today. Shares of the Chinese e-commerce giant are due to start trading in Hong Kong at 9:30 a.m. HK/SIN, in what could be the largest IPO so far this year.

Source : CNBC