Asia traded mostly higher Wednesday, following President Donald Trump's address to U.S. lawmakers
The Nikkei 225 Index sprang up 274.55 points, or 1.4%, to 19,393.54,
The Hang Seng Index in Hong Kong recouped 35.76 points, or 0.2%, to 23,776.49
Japanese export stocks received a boost from a relatively weaker yen that traded at 113.64 to the U.S. dollar after market close, weakening from levels below 112.20.
Among key exporters, Toyota shares rose 1.6%. Sony shares were up 1.5% and Panasonic added 2.6%.
Australian markets trailed Tuesday’s close, as the energy sector fell 1.3%
Data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics showed the country's fourth-quarter gross domestic product (GDP) grew 2.4% annually, beating expectations of a 1.9% increase by an economist poll.
Economists at the National Australia Bank said the solid economic momentum in the GDP figure will likely keep the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) on the sidelines for much of 2017.
The Australian dollar fell 0.2% to $0.7643 U.S. late afternoon.
The relatively strong dollar also pushed gold lower, with spot gold down 0.5% at $1,242.90 U.S. per ounce. That moved gold miners in Australia to the downside: Shares of Newcrest fell 1.4% and Alacer Gold dropped 4.3%
In Washington Tuesday night, Trump spoke on a variety of topics, including a recap of his efforts to develop a blueprint for corporate tax reform to increase America's competitiveness while also providing tax relief for the middle class.
In other markets
Korean markets were closed for holiday
In Shanghai, the CSI 300 gained 5.63 points, or 0.2%, to 3,458.44
In Taiwan, the Taiex emerged from a long weekend to drop 75.69 points, or 0.8%, to 9,674.78
In Singapore, the Straits Times Index recovered 26.16 points, or 0.8%, to 3,122.77
In New Zealand, the NZX 50 gave back 18.68 points, or 0.3%, to 7,148.78
In Australia, the S&P/ASX 200 docked 7.42 points, or 0.1%, to 5,704.80
