Most Asian stocks rose on Monday after data showed Japan's export growth accelerated in November and top U.S. Republicans said they expected Congress to pass a tax code overhaul, with a Senate vote expected as early as Tuesday.
The legislation will reduce corporate as well as individual tax rates and is intended to boost growth in the world's largest economy.
Chinese shares finished marginally higher while Hong Kong's Hang Seng index was up 0.70 percent at 29,050 in late trade.
House prices in majority of the Chinese cities increased in November, figures from the National Bureau of Statistics showed today. On a monthly basis, house prices climbed in 50 cities out of 70 surveyed by the government.
Japanese shares rose for the first time in five days, as the yen weakened on optimism about Republican lawmakers passing tax reform legislation in the U.S. and data showed Japan's exports grew at a faster pace than forecast in November.
The Nikkei average gained 348.55 points or 1.55 percent to finish at 22,901.77, marking its biggest single-day rise in over a month, led by financials and exporters. The broader Topix index closed 1.36 percent higher at 1,817.90.
Exporters Sony, Honda and Toyota Motor jumped 1-3 percent while banks Mitsubishi UFJ Financial and Sumitomo Mitsui Financial advanced 2.9 percent and 1.5 percent, respectively.
Kajima Corp dropped 2.7 percent on a Nikkei report that the offices of Kajima and Shimizu were raided by Japanese prosecutors for alleged antitrust violations in a bid-rigging probe over a high-speed railway project.
Australian shares rose for the first time in three sessions, with positive political developments in the U.S. and an uptick in commodity prices on global growth optimism providing support.
The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 index climbed 41.90 points or 0.70 percent to 6,038.90, while the broader All Ordinaries index finished up 42.90 points or 0.70 percent at 6,130.
Lender ANZ rallied 2.1 percent after announcing a $1.5bn share buyback. The other three banks rose between 0.1 percent and half a percent after the government said it foresees smaller budget deficits and expects to get back to surplus by 2020/21.
Higher commodity prices helped lift miners, with Rio Tinto and BHP Billiton rising 1-2 percent. Energy stocks closed on a mixed note. Cloud collaboration software provider Aconex soared as much as 44 percent after it received a A$1.56 billion ($1.19 billion) buyout offer from U.S. technology giant Oracle.
Seoul stocks ended on a flat note amid selling by foreign investors. The benchmark Kospi closed marginally lower at 2,481.88 despite tech and chemical stocks posting strong gains. LG Chem, Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix climbed 1-2 percent.
New Zealand shares fell slightly despite firm leads from offshore markets. The benchmark S&P/NZX50 index dropped 16.71 points or 0.20 percent to 8,344.15, with Contact Energy and Air New Zealand ending down about 4 percent each.
Scales, A2 Milk and Trade Me Group were among the prominent gainers.
Consumer confidence in New Zealand continued to ebb in December, the latest survey from ANZ Bank revealed - sliding 1.5 percent to a score of 121.8.
Malaysia's KLSE Composite index was down 0.2 percent. A government report showed that the country's jobless rate stood at 3.4 percent in October, the same rate of increase as in September.
Singapore's Straits Times index was down 0.2 percent after data showed the country's non-oil domestic exports surged 9.1 percent year-over-year in November, much slower than the 20.5 surge in the previous month.
India's Sensex was rising 0.9 percent after the BJP won the state elections in Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh. Indonesia's Jakarta Composite index was declining 0.6 percent while the Taiwan Weighted inched up 0.1 percent.
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