Tokyo, Japan (BBN)-Japanese shares hit a 15-year high, following the global rally elsewhere on hopes Greece will reach a deal with its creditors to prevent from defaulting on payments due at the end of the month.

Greece offered economic reforms in exchange for the last payment of €7.2bn from the current aid programme, without which it will not be able to make a €1.5bn repayment to the IMF, report BBC.

Japan’s Nikkei 225 index rose over 1 per cent to as high as 20,677.58

That is highest level since April 2000.

The dollar was firm, a positive development for Japanese exporters, trading at 123.38 yen, compared with 122.73 yen on Monday.

Shares of Toshiba were down after a local report that its semiconductor and personal computer businesses were affected by accounting problems, and would likely lead the tech firm to revise down its profit further.

In China, the Shanghai Composite was down 1.4 per cent at 4,416.12- reopening on Tuesday after a public holiday the previous day.

The benchmark index saw its worst weekly performance since 2008 last week, plunging over 6 per cent on Friday.

Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index was down 0.1 per cent to 27,061.06.

In Australia, the benchmark S&P/ASX 200 was up 1.3 per cent at 5,680.50 – leading Asia’s gains.

Investors ignored data that showed that home prices in major cities in the first quarter rose 1.6 per cent from the previous one, below expectations of a 2.3 per cent rise.

South Korean shares were also higher with the Kospi index up 1.2 per cent to 2,079.77.

BBN/SK/AD