HK & SK Led the Region

Asian stock markets extended their advance Monday as investors eyed another raft of corporate earning in the U.S. and struggling lender CIT Group neared an eleventh-hour deal to stave off bankruptcy.

Hong Kong and South Korean stocks led the region with gains of over 2 percent, while oil prices traded above $64 a barrel. Japanese financial markets were closed for a holiday.

Investors seem encouraged as Wall Street futures rose amid news U.S. commercial lender CIT was closing in on a deal with bondholders for $3 billion in emergency funding. The New York-based bank has been scrambling to raise $2 billion to $4 billion after the federal government refused to bail out the company last week.

The news could add more support to a market already relieved that second-quarter results from major American companies have largely turned out better than expected. Reports this week from American Express, aerospace manufacturer Boeing, industrial equipment maker Caterpillar, among others, will likely to provide more clues about any rebound in the world's largest economy and could dictate trade in the near term.

"It's hard to see a big correction right now," said Andrew Orchard, Asian strategist for Royal Bank of Scotland in Hong Kong. "Earnings have helped the market rally a bit and there's still a lot money out there, so I think we could move higher."

Hong Kong's Hang Seng jumped 446.98 points, or 2.4 percent, to 19,252.64, and South Korea's Kospi added 34.22, or 2.4 percent, to 1,474.25.

Most other major markets were also in the green, with benchmarks in Australia, Shanghai and Taiwan higher by about 1.5 percent.

Indonesian's market suffered Asia's only decline, falling 0.5 percent and adding to losses after Friday's deadly bomb blasts at two luxury hotels in the capital Jakarta.

Wall Street closed little changed Friday.

The Dow Jones industrials rose 32.12, or 0.4 percent, to 8,743.94, but the broader Standard & Poor's 500 index slipped 0.36, or less than 0.1 percent, to 940.38.

U.S. futures pointed to a higher open Monday. Dow futures were up 34, or 0.4 percent, at 8,731 and S&P futures gained 3.3, or 0.4 percent, to 940.20.

Crude prices bounced in Asian trade, the benchmark contract rising 52 cents to $64.08 a barrel. The contracted advanced $1.54 in Friday trade.

The dollar was higher at 94.62 yen from 94.32 yen. The euro strengthened to $1.4154 from $1.4115.

AP