Asia-Pacific markets rise as investors parse a slew of data releases

Asia-Pacific markets rose Monday as investors parsed a slew of data points, including South Korea and Japan's industrial output figures for May and China's purchasing managers' index readings for June.

Japan's benchmark Nikkei 225 climbed 1.13% in early trade, while the broader Topix index advanced 0.77%.

In South Korea, the Kospi index added 0.63%, while the small-cap Kosdaq was flat.

Over in Australia, the S&P/ASX 200 started the day 0.3% higher.

Futures for Hong Kong's Hang Seng index stood at 24,182, pointing to a weaker open compared to the HSI's last close of 24,284.15.

U.S. equity futures rose in early Asia hours before the year stretches into the second half.

All three key benchmarks on Wall Street rose sharply in last Friday's session. The broad-based S&P 500 hit a new record in more than four months after ending the session about 0.5% higher at 6,173.07 — overtaking its previous record of 6,147.43.

The Nasdaq Composite also reached an all-time high, closing at a record after adding about 0.5%, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose nearly 1%.

The three benchmarks have staged a sharp recovery this month from the lows seen in April during the height of trade policy tensions. The whipsaw of global trade negotiations can quickly sway market sentiment and pose an ongoing threat to the strength of this rally.