Asian shares lifted by bargain-buying, Wall St rally

HONG KONG: Asian markets rose on Monday following a record close on Wall Street, while investors picked up bargains after broad losses last week.

The dollar edged up slightly against the yen but remained under pressure on expectations the US Federal Reserve will keep its monetary easing policy in place well into the new year.

Tokyo rose 1.04 percent, Hong Kong added 0.24 percent and Sydney gained 1.19 percent while Shanghai was 0.29 percent higher and Seoul advanced 0.14 percent.

Wellington was closed for a public holiday.

The gains follow a lacklustre performance in the region last week following worse than expected jobs figures out of the United States that indicate the economy is not as strong as first thought.

Traders took their cue from New York, where Wall Street's three main indexes posted healthy gains on Friday thanks to upbeat corporate results.

Amazon and Microsoft posted better-than-expected earnings for the July-September quarter, while there were also solid results from Procter & Gamble and UPS.

The Dow rose 0.39 percent, while the broad-based S&P 500 climbed 0.44 percent to a new record. The Nasdaq tacked on 0.37 percent.

US shares, like most global stocks, have been given some support from traders betting the Fed will hold off winding down its $85 billion-a-month bond-buying stimulus for some time.