Stock market today: Japan's Nikkei tops 40,000, as investors await China political meeting

Asian stocks are mostly higher ahead of China’s top annual political gathering, while Japan’s benchmark closed above 40,000 for the first time. U.S. futures fell and oil prices were little changed. Japan’s Nikkei 225 share index advanced 0.5% to 40,150.00, breaching the 40,000 level, after a big rally on Wall Street last week 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. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng fell 0.2% to 16,558.00 and the Shanghai Composite index rose 0.2% to 3,033.63.