Reinforcing widespread expectations for swift recovery in the Chinese economy, the China Federation of Logistics & Purchasing said that the official Purchasing Managers Index (PMI) in May stayed above the 'expansionary 50 mark' for the third consecutive month.

With the data indicating that China's manufacturing activity expanded in May, the market sentiment was upbeat in Asia. Though the May index dropped slightly to 53.1 from April's 53.5, CLSA PMI figures of 51.2 in May, as against 50.1 in April, marked a 10-month high!

Commenting on the PMI data, analysts at Goldman Sachs said: "Although we believe external demand continues to be weak, this is more than offset by the strong growth in Chinese domestic demand, especially fixed asset investment."

The better-than-anticipated data from the mainland cheered the investors, with stocks in China and Hong Kong rising concurrently on Monday. The robust data also helped investors trounce their jitters related to the looming bankruptcy of General Motors.

Specifically speaking, China's Shanghai Composite rose 2.1 percent; Hong Kong's Hang Seng soared 2.4 percent; Taiwan's main index and Japan's Nikkei 225 were up
0.8 percent; and South Korea's Kospi Composite was up 0.2 percent.

Referring to the positive market sentiment in Asia, analysts at Hong Kong's ICEA said that the high of the current rally was "hard to predict," and any sizeable pullback in the near future was highly unlikely!