TOKYO – Asian shares mostly rose Monday, echoing the rally on Wall Street last week, with Japan's benchmark momentarily reaching three-decade highs on growing optimism over the global economy.
Japan's Nikkei 225 surged 2.1% in morning trading to 29,378.18. Australia's S&P/ASX 200 rose 0.8% to 6,897.80. South Korea's Kospi shed nearly 0.4% to 3,109.14.
Hong Kong's Hang Seng jumped nearly 1.0% to 29,575.61, while the Shanghai Composite picked up 0.8% to 3,525.58. Analysts expect the world economy to grow this year after contracting last year because of the pandemic.
Export-driven Asian nations, such as Japan, South Korea and China, are expected to get a big boost out of the recovery. Investors have been encouraged by surprisingly good