The Japanese stock market hit a new five-and-a-half year high on Monday, buoyed by Wall Street's gains on Friday and a weaker yen.
In late-morning trades, the benchmark Nikkei 225 Index is trading at 15,323.49, up 185.37 or 1.22 percent, after climbing to 15,297.73, the highest intraday level since December 28, 2007.
In the banking space, Mitsubishi UFJ Financial (MTU) is adding 0.29 percent and Mizuho Financial Group (MFG) is advancing 0.9 percent.
Among exporters, Toyota Motor (TM) and Honda Motor (HMC) are gaining more than 2 percent, Canon (CAJ) is adding 0.53 percent, and Nissan Motor is advancing almost 3 percent.
According to a Nikkei business report, Japan and India are likely to agree at their summit at the end of May to resume talks toward a civilian nuclear cooperation pact. Talks between the two countries were suspended following the accident at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant in March 2011.
Toshiba Corp. is up 3.4 percent and Hitachi is gaining more than 3.5 percent. Shares in Japan Steel Works Ltd. are up more than 14 percent, while Sumitomo Heavy is trading higher by more than 7 percent.
On the economic front, Japan is scheduled to release a batch of data on Monday. On tap are final March figures for the leading and coincident indexes, plus April numbers for machine tool orders, convenience store sales, department store sales and Tokyo condominium sales. In addition, the Cabinet Office will release its monthly economic report for May.
In the currency market, the U.S. dollar was trading in the upper 102 yen range on Monday. In late-morning trades, the dollar was trading at 102.82-102.86 yen, up 0.31 yen from Friday's close of 102.51-102.52 yen in Tokyo.
On Wall Street, stocks moved sharply higher over the course of the trading day on Friday, more than offsetting the weakness seen on Thursday. In a reversal from the previous session, the markets benefited from some upbeat U.S. economic data, including a report showing a substantial improvement in consumer sentiment in the month of May, in addition to comments from a Federal Reserve official.
The major averages saw further upside going into the close, with the Dow and the S&P 500 reaching new record highs. The Dow climbed 121.80 points or 0.8 percent to 15,354.40, the Nasdaq advanced 33.72 points or 1 percent to 3,498.97 and the S&P 500 rose 15.65 points or 1 percent to 1,666.12.
The major European markets also moved to the upside on Friday. While the German DAX Index rose by 0.3 percent, the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index and the French CAC 40 Index ended the day up by 0.5 percent and 0.6 percent, respectively.
U.S. crude oil ended sharply higher for a third straight session Friday, tracking rising global equity markets after some upbeat macroeconomic data out of the U.S. raised hopes of an economic recovery, even as the dollar strengthened against a basket of major currencies.
Crude oil futures for June delivery, the most actively traded contract, gained $0.86 or 0.9 percent to close at $96.02 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange Friday.
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