Summary Sydney and Seoul were up 1.82 and 1.42 percent respectively
HONG KONG (AFP) - Asia stocks were largely up Monday, building on gains at the end of last week as polls suggest Britain s upcoming referendum vote will result in the country staying in the European Union.
Markets across the region plunged last week amid concern about a possible "Brexit" -- or British decision to leave the EU -- but showed some improvement Friday as the Remain camp gained ground.
The average of the last six British EU referendum polls put the Remain and Leave camps level at 50-50, excluding undecided voters, according to the What UK Thinks website.
The Leave camp had been a few percentage points ahead in recent polling, but fresh surveys brought the average back to neck-and-neck, after campaigning was suspended for three days following the murder of pro-EU British lawmaker Jo Cox on Thursday.
A Survation poll conducted on Friday and Saturday put Remain at 45 percent and Leave at 42 percent -- the reverse of its previous findings on Thursday.
Tokyo closed up 2.34 percent, adding to gains of one percent at the end of last week to finish at 15,965.30. Hong Kong was up 1.75 percent in afternoon trade, its steepest gain in two weeks.
Sydney and Seoul were up 1.82 and 1.42 percent respectively.
After ending the morning slightly down, Shanghai eked out gains to close 0.13 percent, or 3.70 points, up at 2,888.81. The Shenzhen Composite Index, which tracks stocks on China s second exchange, rose 0.44 percent.
Gold was down 0.65 percent Monday, having hit a near two-year peak on Friday as investors sought the commodity on fears of the impact of a "leave" vote on the world economy.
- Risk-on move -
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The yen eased slightly to 104.73 to the dollar in afternoon trade in Tokyo, from 104.19 yen in New York late Friday.
The Japanese currency, often seen as a safe haven, had also strengthened as concerns grew that the "Leave" camp was headed to victory.
"We are seeing a risk-on move after the latest Brexit poll," Niv Dagan, executive director at Peak Asset Management LLC in Melbourne, told Bloomberg.
"It may be short-lived and volatility is likely to remain high until Thursday s vote. This really could still go either way."
Oil prices extended gains on a weaker dollar, driving up demand for the commodity.
US benchmark West Texas Intermediate for July delivery was up 53 cents, or 1.10 percent, trading at $48.41 a barrel.
International benchmark North Sea Brent for August delivery was up 58 cents, or 1.18 percent, trading at $49.75 a barrel.
