Asian Stocks Finish With Gains

Updated from 12:02 a.m. EST

Asian stocks closed with gains Monday as Japanese shares rose to a two-month high on optimism over a stimulus plan being pushed in the U.S. by President-elect Barack Obama.

In a shortened half-day session, Japan's Nikkei 225 stock average rose 2.1% to 9043.12, its first finish above 9000 since Nov. 10. The Nikkei average fell 42% in 2008, its steepest one-year drop ever.

Obama said over the weekend that Congress should pass a stimulus plan designed to create 3 million jobs, a measure that could cost as much as $775 billion. Obama advisers told the New York Times on Sunday that tax cuts for workers and businesses could total $300 billion.

The Hang Seng index in Hong Kong rose 3.5%, while the Shanghai Composite index in China closed to the upside by 3.3%. The S&P/ASX 200 index in Australia fell 0.7%.

Modest gains for the dollar against the yen boosted exporters like Sony(SNE Quote) and Toyota(TM Quote). Sony, which rose 2.5%, denied a report from the Times of London that it planned a further restructuring that could see job cuts and sweeping changes to management and manufacturing processes. Toyota gained 3.6%.

Shares in Europe were higher in early trading. The FTSE 100 index in London rose 0.9%, while the DAX in Frankfurt gained 0.8%.

Stock futures in the U.S. were indicating shares on Wall Street would open slightly higher Monday.

On Friday, the first trading day of 2009, stocks on Wall Street rose. Although volume was on the light side, the Dow Jones Industrial Average added 258.30 points, or 2.9%, to 9035, and the S&P 500 gained 28.55 points, or 3.2%, to 931.80. The Nasdaq added 55.18 points, or 3.5%, to 1632.21.

Oil prices rose 55 cents to $46.89 in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange as a ground offensive by Israeli troops against Hamas militants in Gaza heightened tensions in the oil-rich Middle East.