- Investors will be looking out for any official announcement of a merger between Japanese automakers Honda Motor and Nissan Motor.
- Sentiment in Asia was boosted following a cooler-than-expected inflation reading that helped lift U.S. markets Friday.
Asia-Pacific markets started the holiday-shortened Christmas week on a positive note, with investors awaiting the official announcement related to the merger of Japanese automakers Honda and Nissan.
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The presidents of Honda, Nissan and Mitsubishi have informed Japan's industry ministry about entering into merger talks, Kyodo News reported Monday. They are expected to hold a press conference Monday afternoon, according to a Google translation of the report in Japanese.
Honda and Nissan are expected to hold board meetings Monday "to discuss entering into full-scale discussions toward a business integration, and then to sign a memorandum of understanding," according to public broadcaster NHK.
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The companies, which aim to reach a "final agreement" in June 2025, are considering setting up a new holding company with a Honda executive leading it, NHK said.
Shares of Honda were 2.11% up, while Nissan shares slipped 0.74%.
Nissan shares saw a record surge last Wednesday, following a media report that the struggling Japanese automaker was looking to merge with Honda.
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Japan's Nikkei 225 climbed 1.06%, while the Topix was 0.79% higher.
South Korea's Kospi gained 1.25%, and the small-cap Kosdaq rose 1.51%.
Australia's S&P/ASX 200 advanced 1.03%.
Hong Kong's Hang Seng index rose 0.72%, while mainland China's CSI 300 was flat.
Last Friday in the U.S., all three major indexes climbed, helped by cooler-than-expected inflation data.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 1.18%, while the S&P 500 added 1.09% and the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite advanced 1.03%.
The personal consumption expenditures price index, the Fed's preferred inflation gauge, accelerated to 2.4% in November from 2.3% the previous month, but was still lower than the 2.5% estimate from Dow Jones.
Excluding food and energy, core PCE rose 2.8% from a year ago, slightly below expectations of 2.9%.
— CNBC's Brian Evans, Sean Conlon and Jeff Cox contributed to this report.
