Tokyo's Nikkei 225, the regional heavyweight, rose 1.8 percent to 14,484.06 after a three-day long weekend. Hong Kong's Hang Seng gained 1 percent to 21,648.91 and South Korea's Kospi added 0.3 percent to 1,941.29.

China's Shanghai Composite Index advanced 0.5 percent to 2,057.71. Markets in Southeast Asia also rose. Australia's S&P/ASX 200 was little changed.

The preliminary version of HSBC's purchasing managers' index dropped to 48.1 in March from February's 48.5. Readings below 50 on the 100-point scale indicate a contraction in activity. Factory output shrank at the fastest clip in 18 months.

But the survey had a bright spot that for investors may have outweighed the signs of weakness in China's domestic economy. It showed that new orders from overseas export customers rose, spelling a recovery in overseas demand.

Wall Street retreated Friday. The S&P 500 slipped 5.49 points, or 0.3 percent, to close at 1,866.52. The Dow Jones industrial average lost 28.28 points, or 0.2 percent, to 16,302.70. The Nasdaq composite dropped 42.50 points, or 1 percent, to 4,276.79.

Benchmark crude oil for May delivery was down 21 cents to $99.25 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The contract added 56 cents to settle at $99.46 on Friday.

In currencies, the euro rose to $1.3802 from $1.3794 late Friday. The dollar rose to 102.47 yen from 102.26 yen. (**)

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