Asian shares took heart Monday from revived hopes for progress in trade negotiations between the US and China after President Donald Trump met with China's Xi Jinping at the Group of 20 summit in Japan.
But the latest data suggested the prolonged trade conflict between Washington and Beijing is taking a further toll on regional growth.
Japan's benchmark Nikkei 225 added 1.6 per cent in morning trading to 21,618.45. Australia's S&P/ASX 200 gained 0.5 per cent to 6,654.70. South Korea's Kospi was marginally higher at 2,131.43.
Hong Kong's markets were closed for a national holiday. The Shanghai Composite rose 1.4 per cent to 3,021.65, according to AP.
Wall Street ended last week on an upbeat note after the Federal Reserve raised expectations that it is prepared to cut interest rates if needed to keep the economy growing.
The S&P 500 index rose 0.6 per cent to 2,941.76. The index ended the month with a 6.9 per cent gain. The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 0.3 per cent to 26,599.96.
The Nasdaq composite rose 0.5 per cent to 8,006.24.
Benchmark crude oil rose $1.21 to $59.62 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. It fell 96 cents to $58.47 a barrel on Friday. Brent crude, the international standard, rose $1.34 to $66.08 a barrel.
The dollar rose to 108.24 Japanese yen from 107.87 yen on Friday. The euro strengthened to $1.1353 from $1.1371.