Asian shares gain after Wall Street's record highs; Kospi rises 1.1%

Asian shares traded higher early on Monday following significant gains stateside in the last session, which saw major US indexes touch record highs.

Japan's Nikkei 225 rose 0.43 percent as most large caps advanced. Toyota was higher by 0.04 percent, with most other automakers recording slight gains. Manufacturing company Fanuc rose 2.52 percent and Fast Retailing gained 0.63 percent. SoftBank traded flat in the early going.

South Korea's benchmark Kospi index climbed 1.05 percent, driven by solid gains in the technology sector. Samsung Electronics jumped 1.22 percent ahead of the announcement of its fourth-quarter results due later this week. Rival chipmaker SK Hynix gained 1.46 percent.

Over in Sydney, the S&P/ASX 200 edged up 0.38 percent as markets resumed trade following a long weekend due to Australia Day last week. Gains were seen in most sectors apart from gold producers and real estate investment trusts.

Meanwhile, energy-related stocks and utilities were among the top-performing sectors in the morning, with Santos up 0.77 percent and Oil Search higher by 1.02 percent.

Stateside, stocks were given a lift on Friday on the back of expectation-topping corporate results. As of Friday, 82 percent of companies that have announced fourth-quarter earnings have beaten expectations, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.

The Dow Jones industrial average rose 0.85 percent, or 223.92 points, to close at 26,616.71. The S&P 500 and Nasdaq composite both closed more than 1 percent higher on the day.

Markets stateside also digested fourth-quarter GDP numbers released Friday, which showed the US economy expanded by 2.6 percent, short of the 3 percent forecast in a Reuters poll.

Meanwhile, the dollar index, which tracks the US currency against a basket of six peers, was mostly flat at 89.041 at 8:20 a.m. HK/SIN.

The greenback fell last week following comments from U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin about how a weaker currency benefits trade. The currency later edged up after President Donald Trump said Mnuchin had been misinterpreted, but subsequently resumed its slide.

The dollar extended losses against the yen to trade at 108.55.

The Australian dollar, which closed above the $0.81 handle on the back of the softer dollar last week, traded at $0.8114.

China's banking regulator issued fines on 12 banks amounting to 295 million yuan (USD 46.7 million), local media said on Saturday. The fines were issued due to illegal bill trading, although authorities did not specify what was unlawful about the trading, Reuters reported. Postal Savings Bank of China was among the banks fined.

Meanwhile, shares of Hong Kong-listed Wynn Macau are in focus following a Wall Street Journal report detailing sexual misconduct from casino magnate Steve Wynn. Shares of Wynn Resorts tumbled more than 10 percent on Friday following the news.

Stock of Australia's AMA Group was up 6.61 percent in early trade after the company earlier confirmed a report in the Australian Financial Review that it had received a proposal from Blackstone Private Equity.

Here's the economic calendar for Monday (all times in HK/SIN):

•10:00 a.m.: Vietnam inflation rate, industrial production and retail sales

•1:00 p.m.: Singapore producer prices

This week, investors in the region will also keep an eye on a fairly packed calendar of events stateside, with Trump's State of the Union address expected on Tuesday US time.

The Federal Reserve will also announce its interest rates decision on Wednesday during US hours.