Asian markets off to a positive start Monday 03:45 BST. Asian shares started the week on a mildly positive note in response to an upbeat day for Wall Street on Friday, with higher oil and commodity prices offsetting an unexpected fall in US home sales. The MSCI Asia Pacific index gained 0.2 per cent with Japan's Nikkei 225 Stock Average up 0.2 per cent, Australia's S&P/ASX 200 0.1 per cent higher and South Korea's Kospi composite index adding 0.5 per cent. China's Shanghai Composite index gained 0.1 per cent but Hong Kong's Hang Seng index slipped 0.1 per cent. Gains were limited, though, with resources stocks mixed and Friday's weak new US home sales numbers weighing on some exporters. "Risk sentiment starts the week in positive mode," Credit Agricole said in a note to clients. But "there are still plenty of factors to dent risk appetite over coming days, not least of which is the gyrations in oil prices." Resources stocks were mixed. In Sydney, Fortescue Metals rose 1.2 per cent, while Rio Tinto slipped 0.3 per cent and BHP Billiton lost 0.4 per cent. In Tokyo, Sumitomo Metal Mining gained 0.9 per cent and Inpex advanced 0.4 per cent but in Seoul, S-Oil declined 1.4 per cent. In Sydney, Qantas Airways climbed 2.6 per cent on news the Australian carrier and China Eastern Airlines are to launch Hong Kong's first budget airline, the first passenger airline venture between major Chinese and foreign airlines. The news boosted China Eastern shares 0.4 per cent in Hong Kong. A weaker yen boosted some Japanese exporters, lifting Sony 1.2 per cent and Nissan Motor 2 per cent. Adways climbed 6.5 per cent to a four-week high after the mobile application and content developer formed an alliance with mobile gaming operator DeNA. But in Seoul, shares of most exporters were damped by an uncertain global economic outlook. Samsung Electronics added 0.5 per cent but LG Electronics fell 2.2 per cent. Builders advanced, with Hyundai Engineering & Construction jumping 1.2 per cent and Samsung Engineering adding 1.4 per cent. Banks led the Hong Kong market lower. Bank of China was down 1.3 per cent and Agricultural Bank of China was off 2.4 per cent. BYD, the Chinese carmaker backed by US billionaire Warren Buffett, tumbled 6 per cent after warning of a 65-95 per cent drop in first-quarter net profit due to the poor performance of its solar business. Gains in China's market came on the back of a report by the official China Securities Journal that regulators are considering expanding quotas for foreign institutional investment in China's stock and bond markets. Gold miners benefitted from a rise in prices for the yellow metal, with Shandong Gold-Mining up 0.8 per cent and Zijin Mining adding 0.2 per cent. In currency markets, the yen was trading at Y82.66 per US dollar compared with Y82.33 late in New York on Friday. It was at Y109.65 against the euro, from Y109.35. In commodities markets, spot gold rose $1.30 to $1,664.10 per troy ounce while May Nymex crude oil futures shed 20 cents to $106.67 per barrel on Globex.