Markets in the Asia-Pacific region are expected to start the holiday-shortened Christmas week on a positive note after a government shutdown in the US was averted over the weekend.

On Monday, investors will be watching for official announcements related to the merger of Japanese automakers Honda Motor and Nissan Motor. Japanese media outlet Jiji Press has reported that the announcement could come as early as Monday.

This comes after Nissan shares posted a record rise last Wednesday following media reports that the troubled Japanese automaker was seeking a merger with Honda.

Japan Nikkei 225 is expected to rise, with the Chicago futures contract at 39,155 and its Osaka counterpart at 39,070, while the index’s last close was at 38,701.9.

Futures for the Hong Kong Hang Seng Index were at 19,886, indicating a stronger opening compared to the HSI’s closing price of 19,720.7.

Australia S&P/ASX 200 started the day with a gain of 0.62%.

Last Friday in the US, all three major indices rose, supported by cooler than expected inflation data.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 1.18%, while the S&P 500 gained 1.09% and the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite gained 1.03%.

The Price index of personal consumption expendituresthe Fed’s preferred inflation gauge, rose to 2.4% in November from 2.3% the previous month, but was still below the Dow Jones estimate of 2.5%.

Excluding food and energy, core PCE increased 2.8% year over year, slightly below expectations of 2.9%.

— CNBC’s Brian Evans, Sean Conlon and Jeff Cox contributed to this report.