06:42 AM EDT, 06/16/2025 (MT Newswires) -- Asian stock markets largely gained Monday on foreign-exchange action and after tempered economic reports from China raised expectations of more policy support from Beijing.

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

In Japan, the Nikkei 225 opened higher and rose to the close, finishing up 1.3%, as a softer yen boosted export issues.

The benchmark Nikkei 225 rose 477.08 to 38,311.33, as gaining issues outnumbered losers 172 to 50.

Leading the upside was semiconductor-test equipment maker Advantest, gaining 9.6%, while video-game maker Nexon declined 4.5%.

In economic news, the Bank of Japan started a two-day policy meeting. No change is expected in policy interest rates, but traders will monitor adjustments to scale the central bank's bond-buying, or quantitative easing, program.

In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng Index opened lower but gained through the day, finishing up 0.7% after housing and industrial reports from Beijing boosted perceived odds of more easing from China's central bank.

The broad gauge Hang Seng rose 168.43 to 24,060.99, as gaining issues outnumbered losers 51 to 27. The Hang Seng TECH Index gained 1.2% on the day, while the Mainland Properties Index rose 2%.

Leading the upside was Chow Tai Fook Jewelry, gaining 6%, while Wuxi Biologics declined 5.4%.

On the mainland, the Shanghai Composite rose 0.4% to 3,388.73.

In economic news, China's retail sales rose 6.4% on year in May, up from the 5.1% rise in April, reported the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS).

However, China's 70-city property price report showed a second straight month of residential price declines in May. New home prices fell 0.2% on month and used home prices fell 0.5% month in May, reported the NBS.

China's industrial output rose 5.8% on year in May, while the value-added of manufacturing-sector production rose 6.2% on year, according to the NBS.

On the other regional exchanges, the S. Korean KOSPI rose 1.8%; the Taiwan TWSE declined 0.1%; the Australian ASX 200 was flat; the Singapore Straits Times Index fell 0.1%, and the Thai Set declined 0.7%. In late trading in Mumbai, the Sensex was up 0.8%.