Asia follows Wall St. gains
(CNN) -- Japanese stocks are sharply higher in early trade Monday, building on a firm finish for Wall Street and expectations of better corporate earnings.
The Nikkei 225 average is up 1.6 percent to 11,306.80 by mid-morning. The broader Topix index is almost 2 percent higher to 1147.80.
Markets in South Korea and Australia are also showing solid gains, with the Kospi up 2.15 percent in Seoul and the S&P/ASX200 ahead by about a third of a percent.
In Tokyo, consumer electronics leader Sony is up 2.5 percent to 4050 yen and market heavyweight NTT DoCoMo is 2 percent ahead to 202,000 yen.
In the auto sector, Toyota is up 1.7 percent to 4130 yen and Nissan is almost 2.7 percent higher.
In Seoul, Hyundai Motor is also posting strong gains, putting on 4.2 percent to 44,550 won. The market's biggest stock, Samsung Electronics, is also 2 percent higher to 491,000 won.
In Australia, resources leaders BHP Billiton and Rio Tinto are in the black.
Despite the strong opening in Asia, analysts say market moves are likely to be muted this week as investors await the outcome of the Group of Eight meeting which starts in the United States from Tuesday. (Full story)
Also weighing on markets are potential oil price moves and prospects for higher U.S. interest rates.
Last Thursday OPEC agreed to raise crude output by two million barrels per day from July 1and a further 500,000 bpd starting in August. (Full story)
