CANBERA (dpa-AFX) - Asian stock markets are mostly higher on Monday, as an upward revision in
U.S.
gross domestic product data on Friday bolstered investor sentiment. Meanwhile, crude oil futures rose in early Asian trades. Markets in
Australia
,
New Zealand
and
Hong Kong
remained closed for the Easter Monday holiday.
The U.S. Department of Commerce revealed on Friday that
U.S.
gross domestic product, a gauge of broad economic activity, rose by an annual rate of 1.4 percent in the last three months of 2015. The figure had previously been reported to have risen by 0.7 percent. Economists had expected the figure to be revised up to about 1.0 percent.
The Japanese market is rising, extending gains from the previous session on Friday, as a weaker yen and the release of better-than-expected
U.S.
GDP data boosted investor sentiment.
In late-morning trades, the benchmark Nikkei 225 Index is advancing 119.86 points or 0.70 percent to 17,122.61, off a high of 17,167.88 earlier.
Among the major exporters, Sony is edging down 0.05 percent, Toshiba is declining almost 1 percent and Canon is lower by 0.3 percent.
Hon Hai Precision's board of directors will meet on Wednesday, with media reports indicating that the company will likely agree to a lower bid for troubled electronics maker Sharp. Shares of Sharp are rising almost 4 percent.
Trading house Mitsui & Co. is lower by 0.3 percent and peer Mitsubishi Corp. is down 0.1 percent.
Automaker Toyota is edging up 0.03 percent, while Honda is down 0.3 percent. In the banking space, Mitsubishi UFJ Financial is declining 0.4 percent.
In the oil space, Inpex is edging up 0.08 percent, while refiner JX Holdings is down 0.5 percent.
The Nikkei business daily reported that convenience store operator FamilyMart will work with the Japan Post group to provide shipping between the company's domestic convenience stores and foreign destinations in
Asia
. Shares of
FamilyMart are advancing almost 1 percent.
Shares of Seven & I Holdings are adding more than 1 percent after activist investor Daniel Loeb reportedly sent a letter to the convenience store operator, urging its board to make a CEO succession plan based on shareholders' interests.
Among the other major gainers, Haseko Corp. is rising almost 4 percent and Showa Denko is adding almost 2 percent. Meanwhile, Sumitomo Osaka Cement is losing more than 2 percent and Tokio Marine Holdings is down more than 1 percent.
In the currency market, the
U.S.
dollar traded in the mid
113 yen-level on Monday, up from Friday's close in the lower
113 yen-range in
Tokyo
.
Elsewhere in
Asia
,
Shanghai
is advancing 0.7 percent and
Taiwan
is rising 0.2 percent, while
South Korea
and
Singapore
are edging up higher.
Indonesia
and
Malaysia
are lower.
The stock markets in the
U.S.
and
Europe
were closed on Friday for the Good Friday holiday.
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