Shares rose in Asia on Monday, shrugging off a weak close last week on Wall Street after Japan's central bank reported a strong improvement in business sentiment. Tokyo's Nikkei picked up 125 points to 26,780.36. In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng shed 0.1% to 26,479.46. The Shanghai Composite index rose 0.3% to 3,358.79 and South Korea's Kospi was up less than 0.1% at 2,771.22. Australia's S&P/ASX 200 gained 0.5% to 6,677.50, AP reported. In other trading, benchmark U.S. crude oil gained 13 cents to $46.70 per barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. It lost 11 cents to $46.57 per barrel on Friday. Brent crude, the international standard, picked up 16 cents to $50.13 per barrel. The dollar weakened to 103.98 Japanese yen from 104.93 yen late Friday. The euro rose to $1.2135 from $1.2115.