Asia markets poised to climb ahead of China rate decision; key Japan data on deck this week

Asia-Pacific markets mostly rose Monday to kick-start a week packed with economic data from across the region.

China, which laid out measures on Friday to boost its property market, will announce its one- and five-year loan prime rates later in the day. The five year LPR is a key reference rate for housing mortgages.

Later this week, investors will also look to trade, inflation and business activity data out from Japan, while Singapore will release its April inflation data and final figures for its first-quarter gross domestic product.

Japan’s Nikkei 225 was trading close to the flatline, while the broad-based Topix gained 0.18%.

South Korea’s Kospi rose 0.63%, but the small-cap Kosdaq slipped 0.75%. The country’s central bank will release its rate decision later this week on

The Australian S&P/ASX 200 advanced 0.42%.

Futures for Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index stood at 19,704, pointing to a stronger open compared with the HSI’s close of 19,553.61.

On Friday in the U.S., the Dow Jones Industrial Average closed Friday above the key 40,000 level for the first time.

The Dow first hit the 40,000 level during Thursday’s trading session, but cinched its first close over the threshold a day later when it added 134.21 points, or 0.3%, to end at 40,003.59.

The S&P 500 inched 0.1% higher Friday, while the Nasdaq Composite slipped by less than 0.1%.

This market rally should continue at least in the short term, according to Tom Lee, head of research at Fundstrat Global Advisors. Lee highlighted Microsoft Build event from Tuesday to Thursday stateside, and Nvidia’s fiscal first-quarter results due Wednesday as potential catalysts.

— CNBC’s Lisa Kailai Han contributed to this report.