Equities closed higher on Wall Street and the dollar firmed as risk aversion took a backseat ahead of Tuesday’s Asia trading.

Major indexes stateside closed the Monday session significantly higher as investors looked past geopolitical tensions that had clouded markets for most of last week. The Dow Jones industrial average gained 0.62 percent, or 135.39 points, to end at 21,993.71, the S&P 500 rose 1 percent, or 24.52 points, to close at 2,465.84 and the Nasdaq advanced 1.34 percent, or 83.68 points, to finish the session at 6,340.23.

The dollar gained against a basket of currencies, with the dollar index edging up to 93.462 at 6:32 a.m. HK/SIN compared to levels around the 93.1 handle seen at the end of last week. The greenback also firmed against the yen, with the U.S. currency last fetching 109.70 yen. That was above levels around 109.15 seen last Friday, but still below the 110 handle seen before tensions ramped up.

“Traders cited the easing of tensions with North Korea as the war of words appears to have abated, but the move appeared to be a classic short covering rally as the dollar rebounded after several days of heavy selling,” said BK Asset Management Managing Director of FX Strategy Boris Schlossberg in a Monday evening note.

Meanwhile, the CBOE Volatility Index (VIX), widely considered the best gauge of fear in the market, traded near 12.4, down about 20 percent.

Back in Asia, futures tipped a slightly higher open for Japanese equities. Nikkei futures traded in Chicago were up 0.30 percent at 19,595 and Osaka futures were 0.32 percent higher at 19,600. Both were above the Nikkei 225’s Monday close of 19,537.10.

Australian SPI futures were off 0.64 percent at 5,694 compared to the S&P/ASX 200’s previous close of 5,730.407.

India and South Korea markets will be closed for public holidays.

In corporate news, Melco International Development has proposed a spin-off for Studio City, a Macau resort, with plans to list the unit in the U.S., the company said in a filing to the Hong Kong Exchange Monday evening. Melco International Development has a 51.2 percent stake in Nasdaq-listed Melco Resorts, which owns 60 percent of Studio City, according to the filing.

Also of note, Commonwealth Bank of Australia Chairman Catherine Livingstone said during a briefing that the bank would have the ability to claw back bonuses from executives when necessary, the Australian Financial Review reported Monday. The bank has recently been in the spotlight over allegations related to potentially breaching money-laundering regulations in Australia. CBA Chief Executive Ian Narev’s bonus was scrapped by the bank last week in relation to the scandal.

On the energy front, oil prices fell more than 2.5 percent as the dollar recovered and soft China demand data revived investor worries about oversupply in oil markets, according to Reuters. Brent crude settled down 2.63 percent at $50.73 a barrel and U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude sank 2.52 percent to settle at $47.59.

Ahead, the Reserve Bank of Australia is expected to release its policy meeting minutes at 9:30 a.m. HK/SIN.

— CNBC’s Fred Imbert contributed to this report.