Japan's Nikkei closes above 40,000 after Wall Street benchmarks hit record highs; China ‘Two Sessions’ meeting in focus

This is CNBC's live blog covering Asia-Pacific markets.

Japan's Nikkei 225 closed above the 40,000 mark on Monday, and setting a new record high after the S&P500 and the Nasdaq Composite hit fresh all-time highs on Friday.

The index ended 0.5% higher at 40,109.23, while the broader Topix fell 0.12%, retreating from its all-time hit on Friday.

The CSI 300 edged 0.16% lower, with investors focused on China's "Two Sessions" meetings. Hong Kong's Hang Seng index fell 0.15%.

The "Two Sessions" refer to the concurrent annual meetings of China's legislature, the National People's Congress, and the country's top political advisory body, the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference.

At the meetings, China premier Li Qiang is expected to deliver the government's work report, which details economic and policy goals for the world's second-largest economy, including its gross domestic product growth target.

India's Nifty 50 rose 0.1% — led by energy stocks — to a new record for the third straight day.

South Korea's Kospi rose 1.26%, while the small cap Kosdaq was up 1.10%. South Korean markets returned for trading after a long weekend.

Australia's S&P/ASX 200 ended 0.13% lower at 7,735.80, after hitting an all-time closing high of 7,745.6 on Friday.

On the commodities front, oil prices rose slightly, with West Texas Intermediate crude prices briefly crossing the $80 mark for the first time in four months as oil heavyweights Saudi Arabia and Russia, alongside other key OPEC+ producers, said they would extend voluntary crude supply cuts until the end of the second quarter.

On Friday in the U.S., the tech-heavy Nasdaq advanced 1.14% to 16,274.94, notching a new high of 16,302.24 during the session. A day earlier, the index closed at