Australia shares and Japan's stock futures rose as the biggest gain in oil prices in two weeks lifted resource companies, Bloomberg reported.
BHP Billiton Ltd., the world's biggest mining company, climbed 2.5 percent in Sydney, while Rio Tinto Group, the third largest, climbed 1.5 percent. U.S.-traded receipts of Mitsubishi Corp., a Japanese trading company that gets more than half its profit from commodities, advanced 0.1 percent from the closing share price in Tokyo.
Australia's S&P/ASX 200 Index rose 1 percent to 3,616.30 as of 10:08 a.m. in Sydney. New Zealand's NZX 50 Index added 0.5 percent to 2,681.05 in Wellington.
On Friday, Japan's Nikkei 225 Stock Average posted the biggest rally since Dec. 15 as the government's pledge for subsidies lifted solar power-related manufacturers. In New York, the Standard & Poor's 500 Index added 0.5 percent on Dec. 26, with trading volume less than half the three-month average.
"Trading will likely remain stagnant toward yearend," Mitsushige Akino, who oversees the equivalent of $468 million at Tokyo-based Ichiyoshi Investment Management, said in an interview with Bloomberg Television. "There is no compelling reason for investors to sell now, and solar-related shares will continue being sought after."
Nikkei 225 futures expiring in March closed at 8,815 in Chicago, 1 percent higher than 8,730 in Osaka and Singapore. The Bank of New York Mellon Asia ADR Price Index, which tracks American depositary receipts of the region's companies, gained 1.9 percent.