Asian stocks close Monday with gains

By Tuba Ongun

ANKARA (AA) - Major Asian stock markets closed Monday with gains.

The Asia Dow, which includes blue-chip companies in the region, rose 0.66% to 3,401 points as of 1017GMT.

Tokyo's Nikkei 225 increased 0.81% to close at one-and-a-half-year high of 29,626 points.

Amid signs of easing raw materials costs, Japan's producer inflation fell to a 20-month low of 5.8% in April, from March's upwardly revised figure of 7.4%

The Hang Seng, the benchmark for blue-chip stocks trading on the Hong Kong exchange, surged 1.75% to reach 19,971 points.

China's Shanghai Stock Exchange jumped 1.17% to 3,310 points on Monday ahead of key economic data from the world's second-largest economy this week.

India's Sensex index gained 0.51% to close at 62,345 and the Singapore index climbed 0.19% to end the day at 3,214 points.

India’s wholesale prices decreased for the first time in almost three years thanks to eased global commodity prices.

Wholesale price index dropped 0.92% in April from a year earlier, after a 1.34% annual hike in March, according to the Commerce Ministry on Monday.

Passenger car sales in India grew 13.4% from a month ago to 313,278 units in April, the latest data showed.