06:36 AM EDT, 07/29/2024 (MT Newswires) -- Asian stock markets largely gained ground Monday on New York's Friday rally and on bargain-hunting.

Hong Kong and Tokyo finished in the green, while Shanghai settled evenly. Other regional exchanges finished higher, with Bangkok shuttered on holiday.

In Japan, the Nikkei 225 opened higher on Wall Street cues and rose to the close, finishing up 2.1% as traders sought relative bargains after last week's sell-offs.

The benchmark Nikkei 225 rose 801.22 to 38,468.63, as gaining issues outnumbered losers 214 to 11.

Leading the upside was Shin-Etsu Chemical, up 8.6% after reporting earnings, while drugmaker Eisai lost 13% on a negative government drug review.

In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng Index opened higher and held ground after an industrial profits report from Beijing.

The broad gauge Hang Seng rose 217.03 to 17,238.34, as gaining issues outnumbered losers 51 to 27. The Hang Seng TECH Index gained 0.7% on the day, although the Mainland Properties Index fell 2%.

Leading the upside was e-commerce colossus Alibaba, gaining 4.7%, while China Resources Beer fell 3.6%.

On the mainland, the Shanghai Composite finished flat at 2,891.85.

In economic news, mainland China industrial profits rose 3.6% on year in June, up from a 0.7% on year gain in May, reported the National Bureau of Statistics. For H1, industrial profits were up 3.5% on year.

On the other regional exchanges, the S. Korean KOSPI rose 1.2%; the Taiwan TWSE inclined 0.2%; the Australian ASX 200 inclined 0.9%; the Singapore Straits Times Index rose 0.5%. In late trading in Mumbai, the Sensex was steady.