Tokyo Nikkei 225 up 3.45%, S&P ASX 200 up 0.17% (Il Sole 24 Ore Radiocor) - Tokyo , 13 Aug - Asian shares closed mostly higher, rebounding for a third straight session on growing hopes that concerns over a US recession were overblown.

Japanese shares led the gains in catch-up trade after a three-day weekend.

Tokyo stocks sank into bear market territory on Monday last week in the worst day for the Nikkei index since the 'Black Monday' of 1987, following hawkish signals from the Bank of Japan, but recouped some of the losses later last week following some encouraging comments on interest rates from the central bank and a softer yen.

Investors awaited US consumer price index data due on Wednesday for more cues on the Federal Reserve's interest rate path. The reading is expected to show inflation cooled slightly in July.

Chinese industrial production and retail sales data due on Thursday and a string of key June quarter earnings from the region's biggest economy are also on tap this week.

The Nikkei index closed up 3.45% at 36,232 points. In Sydney the S&P ASX 200 closed up 0.17% at 7,826 points, while in Seoul the KOSPI closed up 0.12% at 2,621 points.

The Shanghai Composite index was up 0.21% at 2,864 points and the Hong Kong Hang Seng index was up 0.36% at 17,174 points.

In Mumbai the Sensex index fell 0.29% to 79,425 points.

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(RADIOCOR) 13-08-24 09:01:40 (0187) 5 NNNN