Asian stock markets mostly rose on Monday on news of Ireland's bailout and reviving confidence in Japan, although sentiment in Hong Kong was hit by new measures to cool the property market. Tokyo enjoyed a boost from the euro's rise in the wake of a deal to bail out debt-hit Ireland, with exporters such as Toyota and Sony leading the way after a strong performance last week for Japanese shares. Tokyo's Nikkei index was up 1.01 percent, Sydney's S&P/ASX 200 gained 0.40 percent and Shanghai's Composite index rose 0.1 percent, but Hong Kong was off by 0.64 percent. Mike Jones, currency strategist at the Bank of New Zealand, said that aid for Ireland would boost buying in riskier assets, but that markets were awaiting the final shape of the bailout. Markets will 'look to understand the result of Irish government meetings and the assistance of the EU and IMF,' he told Dow Jones Newswires. Irish Prime Minister Brian Cowen said Sunday his government had applied for aid from the EU and the IMF. While the amount had not yet been decided, he said it would be less than 100 billion euros (137 billion dollars). On currency markets the euro surged past 1.37 dollars in early Asian trade, buying 1.3745 dollars in Tokyo, up from 1.3673 dollars in New York late Friday. The single European currency traded at 114.71 yen, up from 114.12 yen. The dollar slid to 83.47 yen from 83.51 yen. Sentiment in Shanghai also improved after a torrid week of sharp falls, with the market coping with an announcement by the central bank late Friday that increased banks' capital reserve requirements. Hong Kong-based investment house Core Pacific-Yamaichi said: 'We believe the normalisation of interest rates and monetary policy will help China achieve an economic soft landing.' In addition to increased clarity on the eurozone, Asian markets were boosted by a positive session on Wall Street on Friday, where a strong start for newly floated General Motors helped boost confidence. The blue-chip Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.20 percent, the broader S&P 500 index gained 0.25 percent and the tech-rich Nasdaq was up 0.15 percent, the latter helped by unexpectedly strong quarterly results from Dell. However, Hong Kong's market got off to a poor start, dragged down by property developers after the government unveiled measures Friday to cool the real estate sector, including tougher stamp duties for those who buy and then quickly resell property. Oil rose on Asian markets, with New York's main contract, light sweet crude for January delivery, gaining 53 cents to 82.51 dollars a barrel. Brent North Sea crude for January rose 53 cents to 84.87 dollars. Gold opened at 1,356.00-1,357.00 US dollars an ounce in Hong Kong, down from Friday's close of 1,358.00-1,359.00 dollars. 