After a lacklustre start to the day, Asia-Pacific equities managed to end mostly higher, with Japan reaching a four-month high on the back of some better-than-expected earnings, large share buybacks and a weakening yen.

The Nikkei 225 finally broke back into 14,000 territory after only a brief glimpse of the level in early May. The index closed up 1.2 per cent at 14,118.55, while the broader Topix gained 1 per cent to 1,373.04.