- Investors will be looking out for any official announcement of a merger between Japanese automakers Honda Motor and Nissan Motor.
- Sentiment in Asia was boosted following a cooler-than-expected inflation reading that helped lift U.S. markets Friday.
Asia-Pacific markets started the holiday-shortened Christmas week on a positive note, with investors awaiting the official announcement related to the merger of Japanese automakers Honda and Nissan.
The presidents of Honda, Nissan and Mitsubishi have informed Japan's industry ministry about entering into merger talks, Kyodo News reported Monday. They are expected to hold a press conference Monday afternoon, according to a Google translation of the report in Japanese.
Honda and Nissan are expected to hold board meetings Monday "to discuss entering into full-scale discussions toward a business integration, and then to sign a memorandum of understanding," according to public broadcaster NHK.
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The companies, which aim to reach a "final agreement" in June 2025, are considering setting up a new holding company with a Honda executive leading it, NHK said.
Shares of Honda were 2.11% up, while Nissan shares slipped 0.74%.
Nissan shares saw a record surge last Wednesday, following a media report that the struggling Japanese automaker was looking to merge with Honda.
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Japan's Nikkei 225 climbed 1.06%, while the Topix was 0.79% higher.
South Korea's Kospi gained 1.25%, and the small-cap Kosdaq rose 1.51%.
Australia's S&P/ASX 200 advanced 1.03%.
Hong Kong's Hang Seng index rose 0.72%, while mainland China's CSI 300 was flat.
Last Friday in the U.S., all three major indexes climbed, helped by cooler-than-expected inflation data.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 1.18%, while the S&P 500 added 1.09% and the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite advanced 1.03%.
The personal consumption expenditures price index, the Fed's preferred inflation gauge, accelerated to 2.4% in November from 2.3% the previous month, but was still lower than the 2.5% estimate from Dow Jones.
Excluding food and energy, core PCE rose 2.8% from a year ago, slightly below expectations of 2.9%.
— CNBC's Brian Evans, Sean Conlon and Jeff Cox contributed to this report.
