The region was also given a boost after South Korea revealed above-forecast growth figures for the third quarter, leading to hopes other economies will follow suit.

Tokyo added 0.77 percent, Seoul one percent and Shanghai was flat.

The rise came despite a 1.08 percent drop in New York as dealers were confident on an upcoming slew of corporate results this week, including from Sony and Honda.

However, Sydney fell 0.60 percent as there were still some nerves over pending third-quarter banking data.

Hong Kong and Wellington were closed for public holidays.

TOKYO: Up 0.77 percent. The Nikkei-225 rose 79.63 points to 10,362.62.

“Earnings will likely provide the market with more trading cues,” Tsuyoshi Segawa, equity strategist at Mizuho Securities, told Dow Jones Newswires.

Exporters got a boost from the yen's recent decline against the dollar.

Toyota climbed 1.7 percent to 3,650 yen and Sony added 1.7 percent to 2,715 yen.

Honda advanced 3.4 percent to 2,900 yen after the Nikkei business daily reported the company plans to invest more than 10 billion yen (109 million dollars) to increase production capacity of motorcycles in Indonesia.

SYDNEY: Down 0.60 percent. The SP/ASX200 fell 29.1 points to 4,830.3.

IG Markets research analyst Ben Potter said the Australian market held up well given the weak lead from the US.

“The materials sector detracted the most points while the financials rallied off their lows ahead of Australian bank reporting later this week,” he said.

BHP Billiton dropped 1.17 percent to 39.73 dollars and Rio Tinto fell 0.87 percent to 66.91 dollars.

The major banks were mostly lower ahead of the reporting season, which begins Wednesday with National Australia Bank (NAB). NAB shares dropped 0.49 percent to 30.76 dollars.

ANZ declined 0.21 percent to 23.80 dollars but Westpac added 0.84 percent to 27.53 dollars.

Santos fell 0.71 percent to 15.44 dollars.

SHANGHAI: Flat. The Shanghai Composite Index, which covers both A and B shares, was up 1.72 points or 0.06 percent to 3,109.57.

“Corporate earnings will be the main focus this week -- the earnings reports that have already been released look quite good and this is keeping sentiment buoyant,” Huatai Securities analyst Chen Huiqin said.

But Monday's gains remained mild as investors took a breather after the key index ended up 1.85 percent in the previous session.

Investors were also wary about the impact on markets from the upcoming launch of ChiNext, China's Nasdaq-style board in Shenzhen. Twenty-eight companies will debut on ChiNext on Friday.

Among the most actively traded companies Monday were Citic Securities, which fell 1.6 percent to 28.34 yuan. China Merchants Bank ended up 1.6 percent at 18.00 yuan and Western Mining rose 2.6 percent to 15.61 yuan.

SEOUL: Up 1.03 percent. The KOSPI ended up 16.94 points at 1,657.11.

The SK central bank announced earlier that the economy expanded 2.9 percent quarter-on quarter in the July-September period, well above market estimates.

“Local shares have moved sideways below the 1,700-mark for about a month because investors feared that earlier stock rallies outpaced the economic recovery,” said Park Seung-Jin, an analyst at Samsung Securities.

“The third-quarter growth rate showed that the gap between stock gains and the economy has narrowed,” Park said.

Automakers and auto parts suppliers were among the brightest spots, with top carmaker Hyundai Motor jumping 4.11 percent to 114,000 won.

Auto parts maker Hyundai Mobis rose 4.14 percent to 163,500 won.

Doosan Infracore, the top construction equipment maker, rose 5.92 percent to 18,800 won on a report September sales in China reached an all-time monthly high.

Drugmaker Green Cross Corp., which produces local vaccines against swine flu, rose the daily limit to 167,500 won as the demand for vaccines was expected to soar.

TAIPEI: Up 0.25 percent. The weighted index rose 19.12 points to 7,668.40.

Early buying focused on financials on renewed hopes that Taiwan and China will soon sign a memorandum of understanding to boost economic cooperation.

Cathay Financial rose 0.17 percent to 60.40 dollars and Fubon Financial gained 0.89 percent to 39.55, off a high of 40.45.

Large-cap electronic shares encountered heavier pressure on continued institutional selling, dealers said.

Smartphone maker HTC fell 1.82 percent to 324.00 and microchip designer MediaTek lost 1.79 percent to 467.00.

Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co closed unchanged at 61.50.

SINGAPORE: Flat. The Straits Times Index gained 1.28 points or 0.05 percent to 2,716.62.

Southeast Asia's biggest property developer CapitaLand, due to release its third quarter earnings Tuesday, closed eight cents higher at 4.43 dollars while City Developments was two cents firmer at 10.46.

Singapore Airlines dropped two cents to 14.06 dollars and Neptune Orient Lines was one cent down at 1.73.

BANGKOK: Up 0.43 percent. The Stock Exchange of Thailand rose 3.07 points to close at 711.83.

JAKARTA: Flat. The Jakarta Composite Index edged down 0.24 points or 0.01 percent to 2,467.71.

Telkom fell 1.7 percent to 8,500 rupiah, Bank Rakyat lost 1.3 percent to 7,500 and car distributor Astra rose 1.4 percent to 33,100.

MANILA: Up 0.29 percent. The composite index added 8.54 points to 2,941.53.

With upbeat economic data in South Korea turning into Monday's main impetus here, dealers said further consolidation was expected in the near term.

Philex Mining rose 4.17 percent to 10 pesos while Philippine Long Distance Telephone lost 0.96 percent to 2,575 pesos.

MUMBAI: Down 0.42 percent. The 30-share Sensex fell 70.31 points to 16,740.5.

burs-dan/aad

 Stocks-Asia-daily

 AFP 261055 GMT OCT 09