Asian markets start strong

The Asian markets opened on a strong note with all the indices starting the week in the green. These gains were on the back of strong performance in the U.S. equity markets on Friday, when a better-than-expected ISM reading sparked optimism on the state of U.S.manufacturing.

The top gainers for the day are Hang Seng, Nikkei and Seoul Composite advancing over 1% each.

Japan’s Nikkei Stock Average rose on account of a strong performance by the auto makers and banks.  After a three day weekend,  Hong Kong stocks rallied sharply, with exporter, real-estate and financial shares leading the gains.

The other noteable gainers are Shanghai Composite, Taiwan Weighted and Straits Times gaining in the range of 0.6-0.9%