The Tokyo Stock Exchange in Japan is off to a sunny start to the week. The Nikkei 225 is up 2.2 percent and the Topix rises 0.6 percent.
South Korea's Kospi is up even more, rising 3.1 percent at noon. Among today's standouts is LG Electronics, which rose more than 8 percent during the morning. According to CNBC, the rise comes after reports that LG is considering listing the US-based robotics company Bear Robotics, of which it is the majority owner.
In China, stock market performance is more mixed. Shenzhen is up 1.3 percent while Shanghai is down slightly, by 0.1 percent. Hong Kong's Hang Seng is down 1.0 percent.
