06:34 AM EDT, 03/17/2025 (MT Newswires) -- Asian stock markets largely gained Monday after the positive rebound Friday on Wall Street, and after Beijing released a generally strong set of economic indicators for the start of 2025.

Hong Kong, Shanghai, and Tokyo finished in the green, as did most other regional exchanges.

In Japan, the Nikkei 225 opened higher on US cues and held ground, finishing up 0.9% on strength in defense and tech issues.

The benchmark Nikkei 225 rose 343.42 to 37,396.52 as gaining issues outnumbered losers 187 to 36.

Leading the upside was Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, which was up 12.2%, while staffing agency Recruit declined by 5.5%.

In other news, Japan's defense sector shares gained after the US ambassador-nominee to Japan advised Tokyo to boost military spending, reported The Mainichi newspaper.

In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng Index finished up 0.8% after Beijing posted a slug of positive economic releases for the first two months of 2025.

The broad gauge Hang Seng rose 185.59 to 24,145.57, as gaining issues outnumbered losers 54 to 27. The Hang Seng TECH Index slipped 0.1% on the day, while the Mainland Properties Index rose 1.6%.

Leading the upside was natural gas supplier ENN Energy, gaining 8%, while automaker Li Auto declined 7.2%.

On the mainland, the Shanghai Composite rose 0.2% to 3,426.13.

In economic news, China retail sales expanded by 4% on the year in the combined January-February period, reported the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS).

The nation's industrial output rose by 5.9% on the year in the same time frame, added NBS.

However, China's new home prices in 70 cities dropped by 4.8% year-on-year in February, reported the NBS.

On the other regional exchanges, the S. Korean KOSPI rose 1.7%; the Taiwan TWSE inclined 0.7%; the Australian ASX 200 inclined 0.8%; the Singapore Straits Times Index rose 0.6%, but the Thai Set declined 0.3%. In late trading in Mumbai, the Sensex was up 0.5%.