According to HKET, RTHK and Sina Finance, Tokyo's Nikkei 225 was little changed at midday, trading at 68,924.30, up 210.50 points or 0.31%, as of 04:32 UTC. Chip-related names supported the market, with Advantest up 2.36% and Tokyo Electron up 1.23%, while Sony fell 2.89%. Government data released Monday showed Japan's economy grew an annualised 1.1% in the April-June quarter, below the 2.0% median forecast in a Reuters poll, as private consumption stayed flat and capital spending fell 1.2%.

South Korean markets were closed on Monday for a Liberation Day holiday. In the previous session on Friday, the KOSPI had ended up 2.42%, or 164.60 points, at 6,977.94, its highest close since late July.

Hong Kong stocks led regional gains, with the Hang Seng Index up 405.14 points, or 1.61%, at 25,521.99 by the lunch break, and the Hang Seng Tech Index up 2.01%. Chipmakers were strong, with SMIC rising more than 7% after reporting second-quarter revenue topped $3 billion for the first time, up 36.1% year-on-year, with a 25.3% gross margin. JD.com rebounded more than 3%, Xiaomi and Bilibili each added over 2%, and Zijin Gold International gained more than 4% as spot gold briefly cleared $4,400 an ounce.

Taiwan's TAIEX advanced 270.41 points, or 0.59%, to 46,081.42 as of 04:32 UTC, led by plastics and shipping shares. TSMC edged up 0.84% to NT$2,415.00, while MediaTek fell 3.44%.

In mainland China, the Shanghai Composite closed the morning session up 0.84%, or 33.01 points, at 3,960.19. The Shenzhen Component rose 1.26% to 14,534.46 and the ChiNext Index gained 1.33% to 3,674.68, with agriculture, semiconductor and innovative-drug shares leading and liquor and film stocks lagging.