Regional investors were able to carry forward the positive momentum from Wall Street in the previous week, as U.S. stocks rose for a fourth straight session on Friday, boosted by solid results from the consumer-discretionary sector.
Investors seemingly shrugged off a below-view reading on economic growth for the world's largest economy, though Asian stock gains were modest amid thin trading volumes with Japanese and Chinese markets shut for holidays. U.S. gross domestic product grew 2.2% in the first-quarter, missing the 2.6% expansion forecast.
"Sentiment will...go through a series of tests this week with major data releases, central bank meetings and elections down the line," said Credit Agricole in a note to clients.
"The non-farm payroll number in the U.S. will be in focus on Friday, after which the market will turn its attention to French and Greek elections on Sunday. Cautiousness will be the watchword for the week and risk aversion is unlikely to go lower meaningfully," the house note said.
Australia's S&P/ASX 200 gained 0.6%, South Korea's Kospi Composite added 0.4% and New Zealand's NZX-50 rose 0.7%.
Dow Jones Industrial Average futures were up six points in screen trade.
Resource-linked counters gained in Sydney due to higher prices for gold and most base metals on Friday.
BHP Billiton rose 1.4%, Newcrest Mining added 1.6%, and Rio Tinto was 1.2% higher.
Energy plays were mixed despite stronger crude prices on Friday with Santos down 0.3%, and Beach Energy up 0.2% in Sydney, while SK Innovation slid 4.0% and S-Oil fell 0.8% in Seoul.
South Korean technology stocks continued to rally on encouraging results reported last week with Samsung Electronics 1.2% higher and SK Hynix up 0.9%.
The U.S. dollar was slightly higher against the euro and the Japanese yen after falling Friday as weaker-than-expected first-quarter economic growth in the U.S raised expectations of another round of stimulus from the Federal Reserve.
"Friday's less than inspiring U.S GDP reading represented a significant collapse in (U.S. dollar) demand which was particularly apparent when looking at the (dollar-yen) pair which slid below the 81-handle late last week despite additional easing from the Bank of Japan late last week, said Melbourne-based Christopher Gore, currency analyst at Go Markets in a note.
"Recent months have seen market participants recalibrate the chances of further policy easing, however feedback from the Fed suggest they will continue to err on the side of caution and maintain existing policy easing to avoid pulling the rug from under the market prematurely," he said.
The common currency was at $1.3234 against the greenback from $1.3252 late Friday in New York, and at Y106.28 versus the Japanese yen from Y106.38. The dollar was at Y80.30 from Y80.26.
Spot gold was at $1,663.10 per troy ounce, up 30 cents from its New York settlement on Friday. June Nymex crude oil futures were 24 cents lower at $104.69 per barrel on Globex.
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