Asia shares higher on US gains

HONG KONG: Asian shares rose on Monday, reflecting a bullish mood on Wall Street and extending their two-week rally, buoyed by better-than-expected US data.

Tokyo stocks were up 1.38 percent by the break, as Shanghai gained 0.12 percent and Sydney rose 1.25 percent.

Hong Kong was 1.3 percent higher and Seoul was up 0.15 percent.

Tokyo stocks rose from the start of trade, buoyed by gains in overseas stock markets last week, as a Japanese minister said the recent correction against the yen was nearly over.

"Bullish equities markets and the progressively weaker yen should help drive the market to a fresh multi-year high after much profit-taking in the last several sessions," said Hiroichi Nishi, general manager of equities at SMBC Nikko Securities.

US stocks had closed another week of record highs Friday as investors focused on the positive side of mixed economic news and corporate earnings. Global stocks have rallied over the past four weeks, bringing up market capitalisation by $2.3 trillion.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average jumped 0.80 percent to 15,354.40 while the the broad-based S&P 500 rose 0.95 percent to 1,666.12.

A pair of better-than-expected US reports Friday -- on consumer confidence and the economic outlook -- drove a rally that pushed the Dow and S&P 500 to end-of-the-week all-time highs for the third straight week.