During Asian trading on Monday, Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index was up 2.01%, Australia's S&P/ASX200 was up 1.32%, while Japan’s Nikkei 225 Index was up 1.66%.
Asian stocks played catch-up with their U.S. counterparts on Monday, rising on news that the U.S. economy added a net 163,000 net nonfarm payrolls in July, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, well above market calls for a gain of 100,000 and up above June's revised figure of 64,000.
Meanwhile, despite the gains, many households in the U.S. lost jobs at the same time, which kept sentiment alive the U.S. Federal Reserve will intervene and stimulate the economy via monetary easing tools such as bond buybacks from banks.
Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke will speak in public later Monday, with markets hoping the top U.S. central banker will shed more light on a need for Fed intervention.
Such tools weaken the dollar and send stocks rising globally, and the Fed isn't the only central bank said to be planning to loosen policy.
The Bank of Japan begins a monetary policy meeting in the coming days, and hopes began to build among many investors on Monday that the central bank will take steps to weaken the yen.
Elsewhere in Europe, expectations that the European Central Bank is growing closer to reactivating its policy of buying sovereign debt in order to push yields down in Spain and Italy also sent stocks gaining.
ECB President Mario Draghi indicated last week that such a move was possible.
Greece, meanwhile, pledged over the weekend to meet austerity demands in exchange for funding from a EUR130 billion bailout facility arranged earlier this year, which further fueled the risk-on trading session.
In Hong Kong, top gainers included Esprit Holdings, up 4.80%, Sino Land, up 4.61%, and Cheung Kong, up 3.37%.
In Australia, top gainers included Bathurst Resources, up 5.45%, Campbell Bros, up 5.31%, and Nufarm, up 4.95%.
European stock futures indicated a mixed opening.
France's CAC 40 futures pointed to a gain of 0.19%, while Germany's DAX 30 futures signaled a gain of 0.11%. Meanwhile, in the U.K., the FTSE 100 futures indicated a loss of 0.06%.
Dow Jones Industrial Average futures were down 0.02% while the S&P 500 futures were up 0.01%.
On Monday, the eurozone will release a report on investor confidence, a key indicator of economic health.
In the U.S., Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke is scheduled to speak; his comments will be closely watched for any indications of the future possible direction of monetary policy.
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