In Australia, the benchmark ASX 200 was up 0.41 percent, boosted by gains in the heavily-weighted financials sub-index. South Korea's Kospi index was flat, reversing early losses of some 0.1 percent. In New Zealand, the NZX 50 was up 0.24 percent. Hong Kong's Hang Seng index gained 0.11 percent. Chinese mainland markets fell behind their regional peers, with the Shanghai composite off 0.41 percent and the Shenzhen composite down 0.76 percent.
CNBC reported: In the broader currency market, the dollar strengthened against a basket of currencies; the dollar index was at 96.544 as of 10:40 a.m. HK/SIN, climbing from levels near 96.00 in the previous week. Experts said improvements were related to better-than-expected stateside data released late last week.
Among other major currency pairs, the Japanese yen traded at 105.59 against the greenback after climbing as high as 105.96 earlier, compared with levels near 100 two weeks ago.
The Australian dollar traded at $0.7594, retreating from levels above $0.76 in the previous week. The Aussie received a boost last week from better-than-expected Chinese data, as China is a major trading partner for Australia.
"The news gave the Aussie a strong shot in the arm, but the momentum was unsustainable as better than expected U.S. data lifted the greenback," explained Kathy Lien, managing director of foreign exchange strategy at BK Asset Management in a Friday note.
Oil prices wavered during the Asian session, with global benchmark Brent trading up 0.38 percent at $47.79 a barrel, while U.S. crude was flat at $45.97.
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