Asia stocks gain after vaccine hopes push Wall Street to record highs

Australia's S&P/ASX 200 rose 0.6% in early trading, while Hong Kong's Hang Seng index futures gained 0.27%. Japan's Nikkei 225 climbed 0.5%.

NEW YORK: Asian stocks opened firmer on Tuesday after the S&P 500 and Dow Jones indexes hit record highs on news of another promising coronavirus vaccine, which supported hopes of a quicker economic recovery.

Investor sentiment shot up after Moderna Inc said its experimental COVID-19 vaccine was 94.5% effective in preventing infection based on interim late-state data.