Investing.com - Asian shares traded mixed on Monday in Asia with regional data flows light outside of disappointing retail sales in Japan.
Japan's Nikkei 225 edged down 0.02%. Japan's Komatsu on Friday raised its projected full-year profit estimate to 216 billion yen ($1.9 billion) — compared to its earlier forecast of 156 billion yen. The construction equipment company rose 3.15%. Japan reported retail sales for September up 2.2%, compared with a 2.5% gain on year expected.
Australia's S&P/ASX 200 gained 0.36% despite some political uncertainty related to the resignation of the deputy prime minister and a razor-thin majority for the Liberal-led coalition.
In Greater China, the Shanghai Composite fell 0.73%, while the Hang Seng index edged up 0.05%. Chinese automaker BYD said on Sunday that the company's profit was likely to decline by up to a fifth, Reuters reported.
Last week, U.S. equities continued their surge higher on Friday closing at record levels as bullish U.S. economic growth and stunning earnings from tech heavyweights fuelled risk-on sentiment.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed higher at 23,434.19. The S&P 500 closed 0.81% higher while the Nasdaq Composite closed at 6701.26, up 2.20%.
Earnings season continued to take center stage, as investors cheered earnings from Amazon (NASDAQ:NASDAQ:AMZN), Microsoft (NASDAQ:NASDAQ:MSFT) and Google-parent Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) Inc Class A (NASDAQ:GOOGL) that beat on both the top and bottom lines lifting the broader indexes to record highs.
Amazon was the standout performer surging 13.2% to close above $1,100 for the first time in its history as the e-commerce giant reported earnings per share of 52 cents, well above Wall Street estimates of 3 cents a share.
On the economic front, the U.S. economy showed no sign of weakness as it grew 3% in the third quarter, the Commerce Department said Friday, beating economist expectations of a 2.5% rise.
Analysts were quick to highlight that the upbeat growth data comes after hurricanes Harvey and Irma disrupted output, suggesting that U.S. economic growth is more bullish.