Asian markets ended mostly higher, with major indexes extending their week-long rallies, while trading in Singapore's securities market was halted due to a system glitch.
In Japan, the Nikkei 225 gained 154.46 points, or 1%, to 16,385.89
In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng Index leaped 238.69 points, or 1.1%, to 21,561.06
The Singapore Exchange (SGX) said in a statement the securities market was "put in adjust phase at 1138 hours (local time) due to duplicate trade confirmation messages being generated." The stock exchange operator said duplicate trades were not executed and the market remained "orderly."
The SGX had said trading would resume at 2 p.m. local time, then pushed that back to 4 p.m., before saying the market would not re-open on Thursday.
In Singapore, government data showed the economy grew at a slower-than-expected pace in the second quarter, according to Reuters.
Singapore's Q2 gross domestic product (GDP) expanded 0.8% on quarter on an annualized and seasonally adjusted basis, a touch lower than the 0.9% predicted by a poll of economists.
The Singapore dollar had a muted reaction to the GDP numbers, briefly touching $1.3479 U.S. after the release of the numbers, before falling back to its pre-release levels near $1.3454.
Back to Japan, the U.S. dollar/yen currency pair traded at 105.41 on Thursday afternoon local time, compared to levels near 100 touched in the previous week. Japanese export stocks finished mixed, with Toyota shares up 0.4%, Honda down 1.4% and Sony adding 2.9%
Elsewhere, Nintendo shares were up 16% to 25,300 yen per share on the back of the limited global launch of the hugely popular mobile game, "Pokemon Go."
In other markets
The Shanghai CSI 300 lost 6.11 points, or 0.2%, to 3,276.76
The Taiex Index in Taiwan eked up 8.61 points, or 0.1%, to 8,866.36
In Singapore, the Straits Times Index slid 3.73 points, or 0.1%, to 2,906.92
In Korea, the Kospi added 3.22 points, or 0.2%, to 2,008.77
In New Zealand, the NZX 50 recovered 16 points, or 0.2%, to 7,080.32
The ASX 200 improved 23.07 points, or 0.4%, to 5,411.61
