Asia markets higher in quiet trade

HONG KONG: Asian shares were mostly higher Monday, adding to recent strong gains, but trade was muted as investors took to the sidelines ahead of speeches from central bank chiefs.

The euro made further gains after last week's unexpectedly positive comments by European Central Bank head Mario Draghi, and the yen continued to weaken against the dollar after the Japanese government unveiled a stimulus package on Friday.

Hong Kong was up 0.58 percent, Australia added 0.20 percent, Seoul put on 0.33 percent and Shanghai was up 1.42 percent.

But Singapore bucked the regional trend by slipping 0.46 percent after the government introduced new measures last week to cool the local property market, including making it more expensive for foreigners to buy property.

Tokyo was closed for a public holiday.

There was no clear lead from Wall Street, where stocks closed in mixed territory on Friday. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 0.13 percent, the broad-based S&P 500 was flat, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite rose 0.12 percent.

With no major data releases in Asia scheduled for Monday, investors awaited cues in upcoming speeches by central bankers, as well as Chinese growth data due later in the week.

US Federal Reserve chief Ben Bernanke was set to appear later Monday after minutes from the last meeting of Fed policymakers showed they were divided over how long the central bank should continue asset purchases to support the economy.