Asia stocks up slightly on strong US earnings

The U.S. is due to report durable goods and pending home sales for December later in the day, but the numbers would have to sharply disappoint to dampen enthusiasm for stocks, analysts said.

"The heavy slate of US data releases this week will keep markets busy but overall we see little to dent the positive tone to risk assets over coming sessions," Mitul Kotecha of Credit Agricole CIB in Hong Kong wrote in a market commentary.

The Nikkei in Tokyo opened higher but then slipped 0.8 percent to 10,840.11 as investors cashed in shares following strong gains. Hong Kong's Hang Seng rose 0.5 percent to 23,691.42. Benchmarks in mainland China, Singapore, Taiwan and the Philippines also rose.

South Korea's Kospi fell 0.3 percent to 1,940.44, dragged down by Samsung Electronics, the world's No. 1 smartphone maker, which plunged 3 percent after Friday saying the strong won would hurt earnings this year. Steelmaker POSCO lost 3.4 percent.

Australian markets were closed for a public holiday.

On Friday, the Standard and Poor's 500 index closed above 1,500 for the first time in more than five years after good earnings reports from Starbucks and Procter & Gamble, the world's largest consumer products maker.

"Wall Street performed pretty well, that has helped overall sentiment this morning," said Jackson Wong, vice president of Tanrich Securities in Hong Kong. Banking stocks did well on the back of a European Central Bank statement Friday that banks in the region were expected to pay back emergency loans faster than previously expected, increasing confidence that Europe's debt crisis is easing.