Nikkei 225 closes higher by 1.52% at 19,429.44

A positive day for Asian equities
The Hang Seng is up by 0.5% while the Shanghai Composite is up by 0.2% currently.
US futures pared earlier losses but are still keeping near flat levels for the moment. In the currencies space, the dollar is mildly weaker with AUD/USD near the highs still at 0.6342.