Asia Pacific markets were mixed on Monday as investors digested better-than-expected jobs data in the U.S. and reports of progress in trade negotiations between Washington and Beijing.

The broad MSCI Asia-ex Japan index made marginal gains to 540.10, as of 3:24 p.m. HK/SIN.

Mainland Chinese stocks were mostly lower on the day, with the Shanghai composite declining slightly to 3,244.81 and the Shenzhen composite falling 0.551% to 1,770.20. The Shenzhen component, on the other hand, was 0.11% higher at 10,351.86.

Meanwhile, Hong Kong's Hang Seng index gained 0.32% in its final hour of trading.

In Japan, the Nikkei 225 slipped 0.21% to close at 21,761.65 as index heavyweight Fanuc declined 0.74%. The Topix also shed 0.35% to finish at 1,620.14.

Over in South Korea, the Kospi closed fractionally higher at 2,210.60.

Korean Air Lines said on Monday that its chairman, Cho Yang-ho, passed away — weeks after he was ousted from the Korean Air board. The carrier has been hit in recent years by a series of scandals involving its founding family members, culminating in the indictment of Cho last year on charges of embezzlement and breach of trust. Cho had denied the charges against him.

Shares of Korean Air Lines and Hanjin Transportation — where Cho also served as chairman — jumped 1.88% and 15.12%, respectively. Hanjin KAL, the holding company for the Hanjin Group conglomerate where Cho was chairman, saw gains of 20.63%.

Australia's advanced 0.65% to close at 6,221.40 as almost all sectors gained.