Japanese and Hong Kong shares were up more than 1% on Thursday, taking their cues from the Dow Jones industrial average shooting past 20,000 after a volley of executive orders by U.S. President Donald Trump.
The Nikkei 225 Index flew 344.89 points, or 1.8%, to 19,402.39,
The Hang Seng Index in Hong Kong hiked 325.05 points, or 1.4%, to 23,374.17
Japan’s top performer was semiconductor manufacturer Tokyo Electron, which was up 5.7% to 11,985 yen per share.
In currency markets, the U.S. dollar was trading weaker against a currency basket, at 99.84. The yen gained against the dollar at 113.37 while the Australian dollar traded at $0.757.
Trump cleared the way for two controversial pipelines on Tuesday, making it easier for TransCanada to build the Keystone XL pipeline and for Energy Transfer Partners to build the final portion of the Dakota Access pipeline.
In other markets
In Shanghai, the CSI 300 added 12.06 points, or 0.4%, to 3,387.96
Markets in Taiwan were shuttered until Feb. 2
Australian markets were shuttered for holiday
In Korea, the Kospi gained 11.84 points, or 0.4%, to 2,083.59
The Straits Times Index in Singapore picked up 16.65 points, or 0.8%, to 3,051.78
In New Zealand, the NZX 50 added 22.42 points, or 0.3%, to 7,113.33
