Asian markets were powered on Thursday by commodity and financial stocks after an improvement in manufacturing data buoyed global equities, with Australian stocks snapping out of a three-day losing streak.
In Japan, the Nikkei 225 Index prospered 67.03 points, or 0.8%, to 8,876.82
In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng Index zoomed 406.08 points, or 2%, to 20,739.40
The rally in Asia came after stronger U.K., European Union and U.S. manufacturing surveys Wednesday.
U.S. stocks rose overnight, also buoyed amid expectations that Facebook would announce details of its initial public offering. After the closing bell, the firm filed for an initial public offering potentially worth $5 billion U.S., in what is likely to be the biggest-ever debut for an Internet stock.
Commodity-related firms were higher as the manufacturing data worked to soothe worries about the trajectory of global growth and subsequent commodity demand.
BHP Billiton Ltd. rose 1.9% and Rio Tinto Ltd. added 2.9% in Sydney.
In Hong Kong, Aluminum Corp. of China Ltd., or Chalco, rose 3.8% and oil major Cnooc Ltd. rallied 4.1%.
Many Japanese car makers sped higher, including Toyota Motor Corp., which rose 1.8% after reporting a 7.5% gain in January U.S. sales. Honda Motor Co. climbed 1.8% after posting a 8.8% U.S. sales increase.
In the banking sector, Japanese banking giant Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group Inc. jumped 2.5% after reporting a 48% increase in its nine-month net profit, while Nomura Holdings Inc. surged 7.1% after reporting a surprise profit of its own.
Other Tokyo-listed financials on the rise included Daiwa Securities Group Inc. with a 4.5% gain, and Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc., which rose 2.1%.
In Hong Kong, heavyweight HSBC Holdings PLC rose 3.2%, while Industrial & Commercial Bank of China Ltd. climbed 3.5%.
Meanwhile, shares of Sharp Corp. were hammered down 15.9% in Tokyo after the Japanese consumer-electronics group said that it expected a record net loss of 290 billion yen ($3.81 billion U.S.) for the current fiscal year.
Rival Sony Corp. -- which announced late Wednesday that Chief Executive Howard Stringer would be replaced by Kazuo Hirai -- fell 2.6%.
Sony shares didn’t start trading until around midday due to technical problems on the Tokyo bourse that forced a halt for 241 listed stocks.
CHINA
The Shanghai CSI 300 gained 57.24 points, or 2.4%, to 2,486.24
In Shanghai, shares of shares of Chalco added 2.2%, Jiangxi jumped 4% and Zhongjin Gold Corp. climbed 3.3%.
In other markets;
Taiwan’s Taiex Index added 103.25 points, or 1.4%, to 7,652.46
Korea’s Kospi Index grew 25.06 points, or 1.3%, to 1,984.30
Singapore’s Straits Times Index slid 3.72 points, or 0.1%, to 2,901.04
New Zealand’s NZX 50 Index moved upward 12.85 points, or 0.4%, to 3,314.64
Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 Index picked up 42.18 points, or 1%, to 4,267.85
