Asia close: Regional gauge at record high as Japanese shares surge

Asian stocks continued to climb, led by a surge in Japanese issues that pushed the MSCI Asia Pacific Index to a record high, as investors in Tokyo played catch-up with the rest of the world following the New Years holiday.

Japan's Nikkei-225 jumped 3.26% or 741.39 points to 23,506.33.

Commenting on the immediate outlook for Japanese shares, strategists at Citi pointed out in a research note how 2017 had (atypically for that market) been an exceptionally strong year for momentum strategies.

In a separate piece, they added stocks from Japan and Singapore to their top five most attractive markets in terms of valuation on a tactical basis, citing the improved short-term price momentum in the former.

Mitsubishi Heavy Industries was in the headlines after management indicated it was on track to deliver its first commercial jet by the middle of the next decade.

To take note of on the economic data front, Caixin's services sector Purchasing Managers' Index shot higher from a reading of 51.6 for November to 53.0 for December.

Gains elsewhere in the region were tamer, with the Shanghai Stock Exchange's Composite Index adding 0.49% or 16.60 points to 3,385.71 and the Hang Seng up by 0.57% to 30,736.48.

India's Sensex was also on the up, tacking on 0.52% to 176.26, while New Zealand's NZX 20 advanced 0.28% to 5,641.37 alongside a 0.11% rise on the ASX 200 to 6,077.08.

Of the main benchmarks, the Kospi was the main underperformer, erasing 0.80% to 2,466.46.