Investing.com - Asian shares held steady to higher on Monday with Tokyo shut for a holiday and no major regional data lined up.
The S&P/ASX 200 rose 0.19%, while the Shanghai Composite opened steady.
In the week ahead, U.S. markets will be closed Thursday for the Thanksgiving holiday and Friday will be a half day.
The euro zone is to release survey data on private sector activity on Monday, while both the U.S. and the U.K. are to publish revised data on third quarter growth later in the week.
On Monday, the euro zone is to release survey data on manufacturing and service sector activity. Germany and France are also to release individual reports. The U.S. is to release private sector data on existing home sales.
Last week, U.S. stocks closed higher on Friday capping one of its strongest weeks of the year, amid significant rallies in retail sales, emerging markets and the aerospace sector.
Bolstered by a surge in Nike Inc (N:N:NKE) shares, the Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 91.20 or 0.51% to close at 17,823.95, finishing with one of its best weeks since February. The Dow appeared on the verge of posting one of its top weeks of the calendar year, rising by as much as 180 points in the session, before falling back slightly in the final hours of the session.
The NASDAQ Composite index ended a bullish week by closing at 5,104.92, up 31.28 or 0.62% on the day, while the S&P 500 Composite index ticked up to finish with its top week of the year.
The S&P 500 gained 7.93 or 0.38% to 2,089.17, as seven of 10 sectors closed in the green. Stocks in the Technology, Health Care and Consumer Services industries led, each gaining at least 0.65% on the session. The S&P 500 needed to clear 2,089 to finished with its best weekly session for 2015.
On Friday, European Central Bank President Mario Draghi gave the clearest signal yet that the bank may unveil fresh stimulus measures at its December meeting.
The ECB is ready to act quickly to boost inflation in the euro zone and can also change the level of its deposit rate to boost the impact of quantitative easing, Draghi said.
New York Fed President William Dudley said Friday that there is a "strong case" for hiking rates at the central bank’s next meeting in December as long as economic data continues to remain solid.