Chinese provinces are urging companies to offer women flexible job roles called "Mama's Posts" that make it easier to balance work and childcare, the official Xinhua news agency said on Monday.

Oil prices ticked up early on Tuesday after Israel struck Rafah in Gaza while negotiations for a ceasefire with Hamas continued without resolution.

Asian shares made 15-month highs on Tuesday on renewed confidence of U.S. interest rate cuts, while traders waited on a policy meeting in Australia later in the day and had a close eye on a falling yen.

The yen continued to drift lower against the dollar on Tuesday as gaping interest rate differentials weighed on the currency, despite fresh warnings from Japanese officials following two rounds of suspected dollar-selling intervention last week.

China’s services sector grew at a steady pace in April as expected, a private survey showed on Monday, as new business activity grew and as export demand also improved from last year’s lows.