Shares were mostly higher in Asia on Monday after Wall Street got back to climbing following more encouraging profit reports and the latest signal that inflation is loosening its chokehold on the economy, the Associated Press reported.

The Hang Seng in Hong Kong rose 0.9% to 20,094.50 while the Shanghai Composite index advanced 0.5% to 3,291.04.

Tokyo’s Nikkei 225 index was up 1.3% at 33,172.22. In Seoul, the Kospi climbed 0.9% to 2,632.58.

Australia’s SandP/ASX 200 edged 0.1% higher, to 7,410.

In other trading on Monday, US benchmark crude oil gave up 12 cents to $80.46 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. It gained 49 cents to $80.58 on Friday. Brent crude shed 15 cents to $84.27 a barrel.

The US dollar rose to 142.05 Japanese yen from Friday’s 141.01 yen. The euro slipped to $1.1017 from $1.1019.

Source: Saudi Press Agency