Asian stocks were mostly higher Monday ahead of China’s top annual political gathering, while Japan’s benchmark surpassed the 40,000 level for the first time. U.S. futures fell and oil prices were mixed. Japan’s Nikkei 225 share index rose to 40,314.64 but fell back slightly. It was up 0.5% to 40,150.00 by early afternoon. It followed an advance last week on Wall Street that pushed U.S. stocks to new heights. Shares in Japan have tracked gains in other markets driven by expectations for strong demand for technology associated with artificial intelligence. They’ve also been boosted by the Bank of Japan’s easy credit ... (full story)