Asia shares mostly up, China data spurs Shanghai rally

[HONG KONG] Most Asia markets climbed on Monday, with Hong Kong advancing for an eighth straight session and Shanghai rallying after more disappointing Chinese data fuelled hopes for fresh easing measures.

Wall Street provided another strong lead on Friday, boosted by a string of merger announcements last week and a huge asset sale by General Electric.

Shanghai surged 2.17 per cent, or 87.41 points, to 4,121.71 while Hong Kong was up 2.20 per cent in late trade.

Seoul gained 0.53 per cent, or 11.16 points, to end at 2,098.92.

Tokyo ended marginally lower, dipping 2.17 points to 19,905.46, while Sydney eased 0.14 per cent, or 8.1 points, to close at 5,960.3.

In other markets, Taipei advanced 0.51 per cent, or 48.82 points, to 9,666.52, and Wellington rose 0.12 percent, or 6.96 points, to 5,854.32.

AFP