Japanese equities kicked off the week with an earnings-related boost, leading gains in the Asia-Pacific though much of the region was shut for a holiday.
Analysts expect uncertainty ahead of the French presidential runoff election on May 7 to limit any gains this week, with many investors likely to stay on the sidelines before the results.
The Nikkei 225 in Japan hiked 113.78 points, or 0.6%, to close Monday at 19,310.52, to start a two-day trading week, with markets breaking for a holiday Wednesday through Friday.
Chip production equipment maker Tokyo Electron jumped 13% after the company reported a 48% net profit increase for the fiscal year ended March.
Among other earnings-related trading, shares of systems integrator NTT Data surged 5.8% after it projected stronger revenue and profits for the year ended March. Electronics maker Fujitsu jumped 8.4% after it projected a 64% increase in net profit for the current fiscal year.
The yen traded at 111.69 to the U.S. dollar, weakening from levels below 111.3 reached last week.
This gave major exporters a small boost, with Toyota shares up 0.1%, Nissan up 0.6% Honda up 0.4% and Sony gaining 3%
Energy names were also struggling in Japan — shares of Inpex fell 0.8% and Japan Petroleum was down 1.4%.
Australian markets closed in the green, with most sectors finishing higher. The energy and materials sectors closed down 0.1% each.
Oil plays struggled for gains and finished mostly lower. Oil Search shares closed down 0.6% Santos was down 0.9% Woodside Petroleum bucked the downward trend to close fractionally higher by 0.2% Beach Energy fell 1.4% and Origin Energy was down 0.1%.
Meanwhile, the Australian dollar fetched $0.7485 U.S., down from levels above $0.7500 early in the previous week
In other markets
Markets in Hong Kong, Shanghai, Singapore, Korea, and Taiwan were closed for Labour Day
In New Zealand, the NZX 50 gained 3.47 points, or 0.1%, to 7,382.22
In Australia, the ASX 200 added 32.46 points, or 0.6%, to 5,956.52
