LONDON (Dow Jones) - Asian markets generally rose Monday as two of the largest exchanges, Tokyo's Nikkei 225 and Hong Kong's Hang Seng, were closed for holidays.

In Australia, gains by mining giants BHP Billiton Ltd. (BHP) and Rio Tinto Ltd. (RTP) pushed the All Ordinaries index up, with the index rising 0.2 points to 4,499.

Tokyo stock exchanges were closed Monday for Respect For The Aged Day holiday and resume trading Tuesday before closing again Friday for the Autumn Equinox Day holiday.

The Nikkei closed down 0.22% Friday at 12,958.68 after marking a four-year closing high on Thursday.

Around the region, the India BSE 30 index rose 0.5%, the Shanghai Composite rose 0.6% and the Jakarta Composite climbed 0.9%.

One exception was the New Zealand NZSX 50, which dropped 0.3% following a deadlocked election between incumbent Helen Clark's Labour Party and the conservative challenger National Party.

Preliminary results show the Labour party with a one seat advantage in parliament, but overseas and other mail-in ballots still need to be counted.

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

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