Equities mostly rose Monday on optimism countries will reach US trade deals before an August 1 deadline, while the yen gained after Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba said he would stay in office despite another election defeat.

Hong Kong topped 25,000 points for the first time in three years as tech giants advanced following strong earnings from Taiwanese chip giant TSMC and news US titan Nvidia would be allowed to export key semiconductors to China.

While only three countries have signed agreements to avoid the worst of Donald Trump's tariffs, analysts said investors were hopeful that others -- including Japan and South Korea -- will follow suit.

The upbeat mood has been helped by a series of largely positive US economic data releases that suggested the world's top economy remained in rude health, helping to push Wall Street to multiple record highs.

In early trade, Hong Kong climbed to as high as 25,010.90 -- its highest level since February 2022 -- thanks to a strong performance in ecommerce leaders Alibaba and JD.com and food delivery provider Meituan.

Tech has been........

© International Business Times