Asian stocks powered higher Tuesday, building on continued records in the U.S. as the earnings season there began strongly and as investors shrugged off risks at home. Indexes in Hong Kong, Japan and South Korea rose more than 1%; indexes in China, Australia and India, more than 0.5%. The gains came despite the U.S.’s imposing steep tariffs on imports of washing machines and solar panels, aimed mainly at Asian producers—including South Korean washing-machine makers Samsung Electronics 005930, +1.91% and LG Electronics 066570, +0.46% . Samsung rebounded 1.9% in Seoul, erasing most of its Monday’s slide, while LG ended 0.5% higher after earlier dropping as much as 5% following the U.S. trade action. Korea’s Kospi SEU, +1.38% finished with a 1.4% gain, its best since October, at a two-month high—just 0.8% below November’s record. Japan’s Nikkei NIK, +1.29% rose 1.3% to close above 24,000 for the first time since November 1991, continuing to climb even after the Bank of Japan’s midday policy statement gave a fresh lift to the yen. A stronger yen tends to pressure a number of Japanese stocks.via