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Hong Kong - Asian stocks closed mixed to higher on Monday, despite fears the Ukraine crisis could intensify, as Chinese markets ended sharply up on hopes for market reforms.
Despite a positive lead from Wall Street's Friday close, trading started on a downbeat note after pro-Russian rebels late on Sunday claimed that voters in eastern Ukraine had massively voted for independence.
Kiev and the West dismissed the disputed referendum as an illegal "farce".
Oil rose above $100 a barrel as investors fretted that any escalation of the tensions leading to conflict could disrupt supplies and send prices rocketing.
Tokyo's benchmark Nikkei index lost 0.35% to close at 14 149.52 as investors awaited the release of key Japanese and US data later in the week, including US retail sales and housing starts.
"This will be a week when investors will assess the US economic outlook after the impact of the polar vortex (cold weather) has rounded off," SMBC Nikko Securities said in a note to clients.
Seoul closed 0.43% higher, gaining 8.39 points to 1 964.94, while Sydney eased 0.23% to 5 448.4 before the release of the national budget on Tuesday.
Stocks in Hong Kong and mainland China ended sharply higher after the Beijing government outlined moves to develop the country's capital markets.
Hong Kong leapt 1.82% to end at 22 261.61.
Shanghai jumped 2.07% to 2 052.87 while the Shenzhen Composite Index, which tracks stocks on China's second exchange, jumped 2.25% to 1 040.54.
China's State Council, or cabinet, late on Friday issued guidelines to promote development of the stock, bond and futures markets, including expanding the scale of foreign investment in the capital markets.
"The guidelines boosted investor confidence," Haitong Securities analyst Zhang Qi told AFP. But he said gains could be capped by worries over upcoming initial public offerings.
US stocks touched a fresh closing high on Friday, with investors shrugging off mixed earnings reports.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average advanced 32.37 points to 16 583.34, 2.5 points above the previous high on April 30.
The broad-based S&P 500 added 0.15% to 1 878.48, while the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index gained 20.37 points to 4 071.88.
But oil prices rose steeply on Monday on Ukraine jitters.
New York's main contract, West Texas Intermediate for June delivery, was up 31 cents at $100.30, while Brent North Sea crude for June gained 48c to $108.37 per barrel.
The dollar was almost flat in Asian trade on Monday, holding on to last week's gains against the euro after Mario Draghi said the European Central Bank was ready to ease monetary policy soon.
The dollar fetched ¥101.86 in afternoon trade in Tokyo, up slightly from ¥101.83 in New York on Friday.
The euro was quoted at $1.3769 and ¥140.30 against $1.3758 and ¥140.10.
Gold fetched $1 290.90 an ounce at 11:00 compared with $1 289.14 late on Friday.
In other markets:
- Manila lost 0.52% to 6 811.34.
Top-traded Philippine Long Distance Telephone Co dropped 2.42% to 2 902 pesos, while Ayala Land fell 0.63% to 31.75 pesos.
- Taipei fell 0.91% to 8 808.61.
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing closed 1.25% lower at Tw$118.5, while leading chip design house MediaTek shed 2.47% to Tw$493.5.
- Wellington closed up 0.19% at 5 162.423.
Telecom Corp gained 0.57% to NZ$2.64 while Contract Energy rose 0.36% to NZ$5.50.
