-- Asian stock markets tracked north on Monday, as traders weighed pending Tehran-Washington negotiations regarding the Persian Gulf, and revamped securities-industry rules issued late Friday in Beijing.
Hong Kong, Shanghai and Tokyo finished in green, as did most other regional exchanges.
In Japan, the Nikkei 225 opened higher and held ground, finishing up 0.6% as traders mulled the outlook for US and Iranian negotiations this week in Pakistan.
The benchmark Nikkei 225 rose 348.99 to 58,824.89, as gaining issues outnumbered losers 123 to 98.
Leading the upside was Renesas Electronics, up 6.4%, while Sumitomo Pharma declined 5.9%.
In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng Index opened evenly and gained in trading, closing up 0.8% on investor acceptance of securities-industry rules changes in China.
The broad gauge Hang Seng rose 200.74 to 26,361.07 as gaining issues outnumbered losers 61 to 28. The Hang Seng TECH Index gained 0.5% on the day, while the Mainland Properties Index rose 0.3%.
Leading the upside was Xinyi Solar, gaining 6.2%, while PetroChina declined 3.3%.
On the mainland, the Shanghai Composite rose 0.8% to 4,082.13.
In industry news, the China Securities Regulatory Commission (CSRC) and other authorities late Friday announced changes to regulations to strengthen market supervision and attract long-term investment.
In general, the new rules ease investment by "strategic investors," or institutional money, into Chinese public companies, particularly into the powerful, voting "A-share" class, but also tighten rules on the illegal selling of shares, and the practice of "auditor shopping" for accounting services.
On the other regional exchanges, the S. Korean KOSPI rose 0.4%; the Taiwan TWSE inclined 0.4%; the Australian ASX 200 inclined 0.1%; the Singapore Straits Times Index rose 0.1%, and the Thai Set was steady. In late trading in Mumbai, the Sensex was down 0.1%
The MSCI All Country Asia Pacific Index rose 0.3% on the day.