Most of the Asian equity benchmarks are trading up in the early deals on Monday, tracking a rally on Wall Street, and investors hoping the European Central Bank will announce fresh stimulus this week. Further, Japanese benchmark crawled back from a 2-1/2-month low on Monday morning as U.S. stocks rebounded after strong economic data buoyed sentiment, while the weaker yen helped exporters rise. Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index is down about 0.75 percent, while the South Korea's Kospi is gaining 0.93 percent, and the Taiwan's Weighted Average is adding about 0.68 percent.
Nikkei 225 rose 119.10 points or 0.71% to 16,983.26, KOSPI Index added 16.85 points or 0.89% to 1,904.98, Taiwan Weighted jumped 20.60 points or 0.22% to 9,158.49, Straits Times increased 6.82 points or 0.21% to 3,307.50 and FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI was up by 5.92 points or 0.34% to 1,749.49
On the flip side, Hang Seng declined by 274.65 points or 1.14% to 23,828.87, Jakarta Composite surged 0.26 points or 0.01% to 5,148.12 and Shanghai Composite was down by 212.78 points or 6.30% to 3,163.72.