Stocks in Asia continued their ascent on Tuesday, following a firm lead from Wall Street as concerns faded over the potential damage of Hurricane Irma and as Korean Peninsula tensions took a backseat.

Japan’s Nikkei 225 rose 1.08 percent in early trade as the dollar held onto overnight gains against the yen. Across the Korean Strait, the Kospi gained 0.34 percent.

Down Under, the S&P/ASX 200 tacked on 0.44 percent, with bank stocks driving gains in the broader index despite most other sub-indexes trading lower. The heavily-weighted financials sub-index was up 1.17 percent.

Stocks on Wall Street closed higher on Monday as investors assessed the damage from Irma, with the Dow Jones industrial average adding 259.58 points to close at 22,057.37.

Hurricane Irma, originally a Category 5 hurricane, was downgraded to a tropical storm as it moved inland. Irma hit the coast of Florida over the weekend and markets grew optimistic after the hurricane looked to have caused less damage than originally thought.

Meanwhile, markets kept an eye on geopolitical tensions on the Korean Peninsula as the United Nations Security Council voted to increase sanctions against North Korea on Monday. North Korea conducted its sixth nuclear test earlier this month. The additional UN sanctions included a limit on the amount of crude oil imported by the North, according to Reuters.

The increased global confidence led to the dollar firming. The dollar index, which tracks the greenback against a basket of six currencies, stood at 91.920 at 8:20 a.m. HK/SIN, holding onto gains made overnight. The index had fallen touched a 2-1/2-year low of 91.011 last Friday.

The U.S. currency was also firmer against the yen, with the greenback last fetching 109.43 yen compared to levels around the 108.5 handle seen toward the end of the Asian trading session on Monday.

Yields of the 10-year U.S. Treasury note rose 8 basis points to stand at 2.13 percent on Monday after falling to their lowest levels since November last week.

On the energy front, oil prices were largely unchanged. U.S. crude was flat at $48.07 a barrel after settling 1.2 percent higher overnight. Brent crude futures edged down 0.06 percent to trade at $53.81. The spike in oil prices overnight came as refineries on the U.S. Gulf Coast began to resume operations after a shutdown due to Hurricane Harvey, Reuters reported.

In corporate news, Spain is looking into Industrial and Commercial Bank of China’s European operations as it probes potential money laundering, according to Reuters. Authorities are reportedly looking at the bank’s ties with several Chinese clients.

Over in Japan, the government announced Monday that it would sell $12 billion of Japan Post Holdings stock. Market reaction to the sale, however, was lukewarm as the company’s potential for growth wasn’t attractive, Reuters quoted fund managers as saying. The postal company’s shares were up 1.59 percent at 8:21 a.m. HK/SIN.

Here’s the economic calendar for today (all times HK/SIN):

• 9:30 a.m.: Australia NAB business confidence index
• 1:00 p.m.: Singapore July retail sales
• 8:00 p.m. India August CPI