Japanese and South Korean stocks rallied on Tuesday to claw back much of the previous day's huge losses suffered in an Asia-wide rout.

In Hong Kong, the benchmark Hang Seng Index opened 220 points, or 0.8 percent, higher at 26,995. The China enterprises index was 53 points, or 0.6 percent, up at 9,133 while the tech index was 37 points, or 0.7 percent, up at 5,563.

On the mainland, the Shanghai Composite Index rose 28 points, or 0.7 percent, to 4,043. The Shenzhen Component Index was 162 points, or 1.18 percent, up at 13,986 while the ChiNext Index, tracking China's Nasdaq-style board of growth enterprises, was up 1.65 percent to 3,318.

The Star Composite Index, which reflects the performance of stocks on China's sci-tech innovation board, opened 1.5 percent higher at 1,786 while the Star 50 Index, which tracks the largest stocks listed on the board that also meet certain liquidity requirements, opened 1.7 percent higher at 1,475.

In Tokyo, the 225-issue Nikkei Stock Average opened 677 points, or 1.29 percent, up at 53,332.

In Seoul, the benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (Kospi) rose by more than 4 percent in early trade and triggering a buy-side sidecar as investors sought bargains in large-cap shares.

The Korea Exchange said the sidecar was activated at 9.26am, marking the first such move in about 10 months since April 10, reported Maeil Business Newspaper.

Under exchange rules, a buy-side sidecar is triggered when Kospi 200 futures rise more than 5 percent from the base price for at least one minute, temporarily suspending program buying orders for five minutes. (Xinhua & agencies)