SYDNEY, Australia - It was a quiet day on Monday in Asia with Japanese markets closed.

There was some headway on Chinese and Australian markets due to the partial trade deal agreed on Friday between China and the United States.

The hastily put-together deal which dealt with a minimal number of issues however was greeted with caution.

"Hardly the signs of a significant breakthrough," Jeffrey Halley, senior Asia-Pacific market analyst for Oanda, said in a note circulated on Sunday. "Both sides appear to have taken small wins that suited them both in the here and now, kicking the significant issues down the road," he added.

At the close of trading Monday China's Shanghai Composite was ahead 34.23 points or 1.15% to 3,007.88.

In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng closed 236.53 points or 0.90% higher at 26,544.97.

The Australian All Ordinaries added 36.00 points or 0.54% to 6,757.90.

On foreign exchange markets the British pound went on a wild ride. It earlier hit a high of 1.2645, but as news filtered through of concerns as whether a deal on Brexit would be concluded the pound began being sold-off. Are sinking to 1.2555, the unit found some support as European trading commenced with the pound changing hands at 1.2585.

The euro drifted lower to 1.1023.

The Japanese yen edged a little higher to 108.19. The Swiss franc was slightly firmer at 0.9956.

The Canadian dollar was little changed at 1.3210. Australian dollar was a fraction weaker at 0.6776, as was the New Zealand dollar at 0.6312.