MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan was up 0.2 percent in early trading.

Japan's Nikkei rose 0.6 percent.

Australian shares and South Korea's KOSPI both jumped 0.5 percent.

"Investors in the Asia-Pacific region face a mixed and modest outlook to begin the trading week," Michael McCarthy, chief market strategist at CMC Markets in Sydney, wrote in a note. "European and U.S. share markets finished with gains for the day and week, but lower commodity prices and a weakening USD may weigh on markets in early trading."

On Friday, Wall Street ended mixed, with energy names offsetting declines in consumer stocks, which were clobbered by Amazon.com's deal to buy upscale grocer Whole Foods Market.

The S&P 500 index closed flat, the Dow Jones Industrial Average ended up 0.1 percent and the Nasdaq lost 0.2 percent.

Europe, however, had a more upbeat session on Friday, with British, German and French stocks, as well as the broader STOXX Europe 600 all closing higher.

In currencies, sterling was fractionally lower at $1.2772 from late Friday levels in New York, but was more or less steady after London police reported casualties after a van collided with pedestrians near Finsbury Park station early on Monday.

The euro inched up slightly to $1.1204.

Brexit Secretary David Davis starts negotiations in Brussels on Monday, which will be followed by a Brussels summit on Thursday and Friday where British Prime Minister Theresa May will encounter - but not negotiate with - fellow EU leaders.

Davis's agreement to Monday's agenda led some EU officials to believe that May's government may at last be coming around to Brussels' view of how negotiations should be run.

Polls showing a strong parliamentary majority for French President Emmanuel Macron following Sunday's vote, giving him a powerful mandate to push through his pro-business reforms, also supported the euro.

The dollar was subdued after U.S. homebuilding fell for a third month in May to the lowest in eight months and a barometer of U.S. consumer sentiment unexpectedly fell in early June, prompting concerns about the Federal Reserve's plans to stick with its monetary policy tightening.

The dollar index, which tracks the greenback against a basket of six global peers, was unchanged at 97.169, failing to make up any of Friday's 0.3 percent loss.

It fared better against the Japanese yen, which remained weak after the Bank of Japan left its ultra-loose monetary policy unchanged last week.

Data on Monday showing Japanese exports rose at their fastest pace in May since January 2015 failed to lift the yen.

The dollar added 0.1 percent to 111.01 yen, after touching a two-week high on Friday.

In commodities, oil futures lingered near six-week lows, as concerns about a supply glut continued to weigh.

U.S. crude slipped 0.25 percent to $44.65 a barrel, while global benchmark Brent dropped 0.2 percent to $47.29.

Gold crept higher but struggled to recover from the 3-1/2-week low touched on Friday. Spot gold was up 0.1 percent at $1,255.04 an ounce.

(Reporting by Nichola Saminather; Editing by Shri Navaratnam)