Investing.com - Stocks in Japan rose on better-than-expected trade data on Monday with other key Asian markets also gaining ahead of the break despite continue Greek debt worries.
The Nikkei 225 rose 0.70%, while the Shanghai Composite gained 2.13% and the Hang Seng index was up 1.70%.
Japan's trade balance for April reached a deficit of Y53.4 billion, narrower than the Y319 billion deficit seen and exports rose 8.0%, better than the 6.4% increase expected and imports declined 4.2%, more than the 1.5% drop expected.
Markets in the United States are closed for Memorial Day.
Last week, U.S. stocks fell slightly on Friday ending the week on a sour note, after Janet Yellen hinted that the Federal Reserve could raise interest rates at some point this year if the economy continues to show improvement.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average and the S&P 500 Composite index finished lower on the session after setting all-time closing records earlier in the week, while the NASDAQ Composite also closed down after spending most of the session in record territory. Bolstered by gains in the transportation and technology sectors, the NASDAQ appeared on pace to eclipse an all-time closing record from April 24, when it ended the session at 5,092.08. Instead, it closed at 5,089.36, down 1.43 or 0.03% following a late sell-off.
The Dow fell 53.72 or 0.29% to close at 18,232.02, finishing down for the week, while the S&P 500 lost 4.76 or 0.22% to 2,126.06, as nine of 10 sectors closed in the red.
On Friday, a mostly upbeat Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen said Friday "it will be appropriate" for the Fed to start raising the federal funds rate from near zero "at some point this year" if the economy performs as she expects.
Yellen said she would want to see "continued improvement in labor market conditions" and become "reasonably confident" inflation will move back to 2% "over the medium term" -- the same two conditions the Fed's rate-setting Federal Open Market Committee has listed in its last two policy statements.
Downplaying apparent first quarter economic weakness, Yellen strongly suggested those conditions will be met if her fairly optimistic economic forecast is fulfilled.
"I expect inflation to move up toward our objective of 2% as the economy strengthens further and as transitory
influences wane."
But Yellen reiterated that rate hikes are apt to be "gradual" because of various headwinds that are still restraining the economy." She also echoed the FOMC statement in saying, "it will be several years before thefederal funds rate would be back to its normal, longer-run level."
At the weekend, Reuters reported that Greece cannot make debt repayments to the International Monetary Fund (IMF) next month unless it achieves a deal with creditors, quoting the interior minister in what it said are the most explicit remarks yet from Athens about the likelihood of default if talks fail.
"The four installments for the IMF in June are 1.6 billion euros. This money will not be given and is not there to be given," Interior Minister Nikos Voutsis told Greek Mega TV's weekend show.