Asian stock markets were higher Monday, with Japan's Nikkei Stock Average of 225 companies closing at a new 18-month high for the third straight session as a weaker yen lifted shares of exporters.
In Tokyo, the Nikkei 225 progressed 53.21 points, or 0.5%, to 11,339.30
Asian sentiment was boosted by March's solid U.S. nonfarm payrolls data, which showed the biggest gain since March 2007. Regional volume was light, as markets in Australia, New Zealand, China, Hong Kong and Taiwan were shut for holidays.
Shares of Japanese exporters got a lift from the U.S. dollar's recent gains against the yen. A weaker yen makes their products cheaper in overseas markets and also increases the value of overseas profits when repatriated.
The dollar was trading above the 94-yen level Monday. Japanese companies had assumed an average dollar exchange rate of 91 yen for their profit forecasts for the fiscal year that began this month, according to last week's Bank of Japan tankan report.
Barclays hiked its dollar estimates Monday, expecting the dollar to rise to 95 yen in one month, 96 yen in three months and 98 yen in six months, from previous estimates of 91, 93 and 96 yen respectively.
Exporters got a tailwind from fading fears of yen appreciation, with Canon Inc. up 2.5% and Toyota Motor Corp. adding 1.1%.
But Fast Retailing Co. dropped 11% after it reported weak March sales Friday, and had its stock rating cut by UBS and its stock price target cut by Morgan Stanley.
Dai-ichi Life Insurance Co. shed 2.5%, as investors locked in gains after the company's bright debut last Thursday.
Yamaha Motor Co. was down 9.4% on share dilution concerns after it said late Friday it will raise up to 76.11 billion yen via a new share issue.
Softbank Corp. fell 3.9% on news Friday that Japan's Communications Ministry said it would direct mobile carriers to stop locking subscriber identity module, or SIM, cards and allow subscribers to switch carriers at any time.
The move could potentially cause a decline in revenue as users of Apple's iPhone, offered through Softbank, might switch to rival NTT DoCoMo, which has a comparatively stronger network.
NTT DoCoMo shares were 0.8% higher.
Trading in South Korea was choppy, weighed by profit-taking after recent gains.
Daewoo Engineering was down 2.8% and Hyundai Engineering lost 1.5% while Daewoo Shipbuilding was off 4.1%.
The dollar was at 94.54 yen, compared with 94.67 yen in late Friday morning trade in New York, while the euro was at $1.3484 U.S. from $1.3478 U.S., and 127.49 yen from 127.62 yen.
Japanese government bonds were lower, weighed by the Nikkei's rise. The lead June JGB futures contract closed down 0.25 at 138.45 points while the 10-year cash JGB yield was up 2.5 basis points at 1.380%.
Japan's Ministry of Finance will offer 2.2 trillion yen of 10-year JGBs on Tuesday.
Elsewhere;
Korea’s Kospi index advanced 1.50 points to 1,724.98
Singapore’s Straits Times Index moved up 25.36 points, or 0.9%, to 2,968.38
