Asian markets rose on Monday, with Hong Kong shares leading the way and Japanese stocks rebounding from early weakness after growth data disappointed.

Hong Kong's Hong Kong ^$122.30 -0.30 -0.24% Feb. 17, 2014 4:01 pm Volume : 990,273 P/E Ratio 8.18 Market Cap $234.39 Billion Dividend Yield N/A Rev. per Employee $4,473,550 in Your Value Your Change Short position Index gained 1.1% to 22535.94 and the Shanghai Composite rose by 0.9% to 2135.41 after made a larger-than-expected jump in January, with financial institutions issuing 1.32 trillion yuan ($217.6 billion) worth of new loans last month. Although Chinese banks typically make more loans at the beginning of the year, analysts viewed the jump as a sign of strength in the economy.

The Nikkei Stock Average ended up 0.6% at 14393.11 after flipping between positive and negative territory early in the session, following the release of data that showed that grew less than expected in the final three months of 2013. Gross domestic product expanded at an annualized rate of 1% in the final quarter of last year, lower than the 2.8% increase expected by economists.

The market picked up as the yen lost some of its earlier strength against the dollar. The greenback was at ¥101.72 late in Asia, compared with the day's low of ¥101.37, though slightly lower than ¥101.80 from late Friday in New York. In addition, the Nikkei was recovering from a 1.5% drop on Friday.

More broadly, the region was positive at the start of the week, taking its lead from Wall Street's gains on Friday, as global markets continued to recover from a selloff in January and early this month.

Australia's S&P/ASX 200 added 0.5% to 5382.90, South Korea's Kospi gained 0.3% to 1946.36 and Singapore's Straits Times Index was up 0.9% late in Asia.

In Sydney, the earnings season rolled on. Shares of Australia: Sydney ^$5.19 +0.09 +1.76% Feb. 17, 2014 5:04 pm Volume : 7.49M P/E Ratio 26.74 Market Cap $10.90 Billion Dividend Yield 3.08% Rev. per Employee $467,323 12/05/13 in Your Value Your Change Short position rose 1.8% even though the rail-freight operator reported that its profit fell 39% in the first-half of the fiscal year. The market focused on an increase in the company's interim dividend, as well as higher volumes on its rail network despite slowing mining investment in Australia.

, Australia: Sydney ^$74.35 -1.64 -2.16% Feb. 17, 2014 5:03 pm Volume : 10.29M P/E Ratio 15.10 Market Cap $122.49 Billion Dividend Yield 4.92% Rev. per Employee $956,481 02/11/14 01/29/14 in Your Value Your Change Short position Australia's largest bank by market value, fell 2.2% after the company's stock started to trade ex-dividend.

In Japan, shares in Rakuten, the country's largest online retailer, fell 9.5% after the firm said it is paying $900 million to , a Cyprus-based maker of messaging and calling applications. Viber will bring 300 million of its users to Rakuten's global network of 200 million, the Japanese company's chief executive said Friday.

Write to Daniel Inman at