SYDNEY, NSW, Australia - A potential easing of the Chinese government's crackdown on technology companies drove stocks in Hong Kong higher Tuesday.

Most Chinese tech companies are listed on the Hong Kong stock exchange.

A meeting between executives and directors of some of the main technology governments and high-level officials of the government began a meeting Tuesday to discuss the regulatory regime put in place by the government.

"The meeting today has been widely interpreted by the market that the worst would be over for China's year-long, multi-pronged crackdown on its internet industry. This has led to the rise of several Hong Kong-listed tech companies," Zhang Zihua, chief investment officer at Beijing Yunyi Asset Management told Reuters news agency Tuesday.

The Hang Seng in Hong Kong rallied 652.31 points or 3.27 percent to close Tuesday at 20,602.52.

In Japan, the Nikkei 225 gained 112.70 points or 0.42 percent to 26,659.75.

China's Shanghai Composite advanced 19.95 points or 0.65 percent to 3,093.70.

The Australian All Ordinaries gained 24.40 points or 0.33 percent to 7,350.60.

South Korea's Kospi Composite rose 22.86 points or 0.92 percent to 2,620.44.

In New Zealand, the S&P/NZX 50 went against the trend, sliding 19.78 points or 0.18 percent to 11,137.88.

The U.S. dollar lost ground against all currencies except the Japanese yen which remained unchanged at 129.32, around the Sydney close Monday.

The euro firmed to 1.0457. The British pound was sharply higher at 1.2414, following a decline in the unemployment rate from 3.8 percent to 3.7 percent. The Swiss frac strengthened to 0.9996.

The Australian dollar jumped to 0.7011. The New Zealand dollar rose to 0.6342. The Canadian dollar was in demand at 1.2828.

Overnight on Wall Street, the Dow Jones was the only major index to finish in front, albeit with a modest 26.76 points or 0.08 percent gain to 22,223.42.

The Nasdaq Composite was the hardest hit index, tumbling 142.21 points or 1.20 percent to 11,662.71.

The Standard and Poor's 500 slipped 15.88 points or 0.79 percent to 4,008.01.