Equities started the month on a broadly positive note, following all-time highs for the S&P 500 and Nasdaq in New York on Friday.
Seoul surged more than 5 per cent and Taipei jumped more than 4 per cent to hit fresh records.
South Korean chip giant SK hynix was the standout, piling on more than 12.5 per cent, while rival Samsung was up more than 5 per cent. Taiwanese counterpart TSMC was almost 6.6 per cent up.
Hong Kong was lifted by a surge in Chinese tech firms including Alibaba, while Mumbai, Singapore, Manila, Wellington and Jakarta were also up.
Paris fell at the open and Frankfurt rose.
Tokyo, Shanghai and London were closed for holidays.
However, Chris Weston at Pepperstone said: “After a strong April for risk assets, we need to remain open-minded about what May will bring.
“This week should provide early signals, but with risk assets pricing in a lot of good news, and rightly so, the time for that to be validated may now be here.”
The yen spiked earlier Monday against the dollar, prompting speculation of another intervention. The currency moved sharply higher against the greenback on Friday, with media reports saying that Tokyo had spent US$31 billion propping up the beleaguered currency.
Finance Minister Satsuki Katayama declined to comment on Monday.
