Tokyo's recovery sent Japanese government bonds lower, but Treasuries edged higher after news on Friday that American International Group, the world?s biggest insurer, posted its largest ever quarterly loss. The news revived fears about financial institutions? exposure to the credit crisis.

Shares across the rest of Asia were up 0.2 by 0559 GMT (1.59 pm Singapore time). The benchmark is down just more than 8 per cent so far this year, but had rallied sharply in March after it had fallen to its worst level since August 2007 with the collapse of US investment bank Bear Stearns.

KUALA LUMPUR
Malaysian share prices closed 0.6 per cent higher on Monday, with the key index lifted by gains in select blue chips and plantation and oil stocks following another rise in crude oil prices to record levels, dealers said.

They said in trade was cautious but gains by steel stocks after the government lifted the ceiling on the prices of steel products further supported the key index.

The Kuala Lumpur Composite Index closed up 7.82 points at 1,293.09.

SHANGHAI
Chinese stocks rose 0.37 per cent on Monday, bouncing from an early dip on fears that higher inflation may prompt economic cooling steps, but trade was disrupted by a strong earthquake in southwest China that rocked buildings in Shanghai nearly half an hour before the market closed.

The benchmark Shanghai Composite Index ended at 3,626.982 points. The index hit its intraday high of 3,668.857 around the time the earthquake hit.

Gaining stocks in Shanghai outnumbered losers by 636 to 245, while turnover in Shanghai A shares was active at 116.4 billion yuan (S$22.9 billion), compared with Friday's 128.5 billion yuan.

TOKYO
Japan's Nikkei stock average climbed 0.6 per cent to its first positive close in three days on Monday, boosted by a retreat of the yen against the dollar that helped exporters and by gains in Nippon Oil Corp and other oil-linked firms as oil hovered near record levels. Additional upward energy came from Konica Minolta Holdings T, which surged 12.14 per cent for its greatest one-day percentage gain in more than seven years, while financials such as Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group lost ground on rekindled worries about the financial sector in the United States.

The Nikkei gained 88.02 points to 13,743.36, clinging near a four-month high hit last week. The broader Topix was nearly flat with a gain of 0.08 per cent at 1,342.79.

HONG KONG
The Hong Kong financial market is closed on Monday for a public holiday. Trading will resume on Tuesday. -- AFP, REUTERS