Asia markets struggle to maintain rally momentum

Tokyo stocks enjoyed fresh gains Tuesday following another strong Wall Street performance but most other Asian markets struggled to maintain momentum as focus turns to Federal Reserve boss Jerome Powell's congressional debut.

Equities have been pushing higher since the first week of February saw a plunge that wiped trillions off valuations worldwide, though analysts warn that with prices still high volatility could return.

The S&P 500 on Monday climbed above the level it touched before the sell-off, while the Dow and NASDAQ also climbed more than one percent.

Tokyo ended 1.1 percent higher, Sydney and Wellington each put on 0.2 percent, while Manila and Jakarta also rose.

But profit-taking sent other key markets into negative territory.

Hong Kong fell 0.7 percent, Singapore shed 0.1 percent and Seoul eased 0.1 percent, while Taipei gave back 0.2 percent – APP/AFP