Asian stock markets notched up solid gains on Monday, as investors paused for breath after the wild swings of the past week and took some comfort from a calm finish on Wall Street on Friday.

In Japan, second-quarter gross domestic product data showing that the economy there had contracted less severely than expected also helped lift sentiment.

The statistics, released by the Cabinet Office early Monday, showed that the Japanese economy, which was battered by a massive earthquake and tsunami in March, had contracted 0.3 percent from the previous quarter, indicating that economic activity had rallied more quickly than expected after the disaster.

The Nikkei 225 index climbed 1.4 percent to close at 9,086.21 points, though investors in Japan are keeping a wary eye on the yen, whose ascent against other currencies is weighing on exporters.

On Monday, one U.S. dollar bought about 76.8 yen.

Elsewhere in Asia, the benchmark indexes in Australia and Taiwan closed 2.6 percent and 2.4 percent higher, respectively.

In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng was 3 percent higher by midafternoon, and in mainland China, the Shanghai composite index edged up 0.2 percent.

In Singapore, the Straits Times index was 1.1 percent higher by midafternoon.

European stock markets also were expected to rise at the open.

The rally followed modest rises in the Dow Jones industrial average and the Standard & Poor’s 500 index on Friday. They closed 1.1 percent and 0.5 percent higher, respectively, after a dizzying, rollercoaster performance as investors struggled to assess the impact of the U.S. ratings downgrade.

The overall global markets, however, are expected to remain jittery, with much uncertainty about the debt crisis in Europe and the health of the U.S. economy.

Futures on the S.& P. 500 were 0.8 percent higher by midafternoon in Asia.

“Decent data on Thursday and Friday last week brought a semblance of stability to markets,” analysts at DBS in Singapore wrote in a research note on Monday, referring to U.S. retail sales and jobless figures that were both relatively upbeat.

“Housing, inflation and industrial production will have the do the trick this week,” the DBS analysts commented. “It won’t be easy.”