Stocks on Wall Street had their best week in two years on strong manufacturing figures that eased concerns about slowing growth.
However trading volume remained light, raising some doubt about the sustainability of the rally.
The Dow Jones Index rose 168 points to end at 12,583.
The Nasdaq Composite went up 43 points at 2816.
In Europe on Friday, London's FTSE 100 rose 0.7%, Germany's DAX rose 0.6%, France's CAC 40 rose 0.6%.
In Tokyo, the Nikkei rose 52 points to 9868
The Australian 200 Index down 17 points to close at 4591
The NZX50 rose 27 points to close at 3475.
In currency markets on Monday morning, the NZ dollar was trading at 82.76 US, 76.74 Australian, 51.41 pence, 66.81 yen and 0.5693 euro. The TWI stood at 71.07.
Brent crude oil was trading at $US110.37 a barrel.
Gold is trading at $US1,485.80 an ounce.
