Japanese stocks had their biggest gain in two weeks on Tuesday as investors waited to see if Prime Minister Shinzo Abe will call a snap election and consider fresh steps to support the economy after it slipped into recession in the third quarter.
The Nikkei benchmark closed 2.2% higher at 17,344.06, the biggest daily percentage gain since Nov 4.
Sony Corp stole the spotlight, soaring 6.4% after it said it is aiming to garner up to $11 billion in revenue from its movie business in three years' time, a 36% increase over levels forecast for the current financial year.
The broader Topix rose 2.1% to 1,394.88, and the new JPX-Nikkei Index 400 gained 2.1% to 12,727.58.