10:41 AM EDT, 03/18/2024 (MT Newswires) -- Asian equities traded in the US as American depositary receipts kicked off the week sharply higher Monday morning, rising 1.17% to 1,907.22 on the S&P Asia 50 ADR Index.

From North Asia, the gainers were led by wealth management firm Highest Performances (PUYI) and financial services company CNFinance ( CNF ) , which advanced 34% and 2.9% respectively. They were followed by game live-streaming company HUYA ( HUYA ) and semiconductor company ASE Technology ( ASX ) , which rose 4% and 3% respectively.

The decliners from North Asia were led by education company 17 Education & Technology Group ( YQ ) and mobile big data platform Aurora Mobile ( JG ) , which fell 3% and 2% respectively. They were followed by consumer lending firm Dunxin Financial ( DXF ) and property technology company Fangdd Network Group ( DUO ) , which dropped 0.5% and 5% respectively.

From South Asia, the gainers were led by biotech firm ASLAN Pharmaceuticals ( ASLN ) and financial services company HDFC Bank ( HDB ) , which rose 7.7% and 1.2% respectively. They were followed by pharmaceutical company Dr. Reddy's Laboratories (RDY) and financial services company ICICI Bank ( IBN ) , which were up 0.4% and 0.2% respectively.

The decliners from South Asia were led by telecommunications operator PLDT ( PHI ) and IT firm Wipro ( WIT ) , which fell 0.4% and 1.5% respectively. They were followed by telecommunications operator Telekomunikasi Indonesia (TLK) and IT firm Infosys ( INFY ) , which were down 0.9% and 0.4% respectively.