Stock market today: Asian shares are mostly higher after Wall Street rally caps a dismal week

Shares are mostly higher in Asia after U.S. stocks capped a mostly dismal week with a broad rally. Markets saw strong gains in Tokyo, China, Taiwan and South Korea. Honda and Nissan were expected to hold a news conference later Monday as reports speculated on a possible merger between Japan's second and third-largest automakers. The S&P 500 rallied 1.1% Friday to shave its loss for the week down to 2%. The Dow Jones Industrial Average jumped 1.2% and the Nasdaq composite gained 1%. A report said a measure of inflation the Federal Reserve prefers was slightly lower last month than expected, raising hopes the central bank will be able to go ahead with rate cuts.