HONG KONG: Asian stock markets pushed higher on Thursday with Tokyo hitting an eight-month high, amid relief at a respite in Europe's debt crisis and signs of the US economy perking up.
Tokyo's Nikkei index ended the session up 0.73 percent, or 76.96 points, at 10,589.76, after peaking at over 10,600 in the morning.
Sydney's S&P/ASX 200 closed up 1.50 percent, or 71.0 points, at 4,795.2, while Hong Kong was up 0.69 percent in the afternoon and Shanghai's Composite was up 0.16 percent.
The gains followed rallies on both European and US markets following a successful bond auction by embattled eurozone member Portugal, even though many observers predicted the country would eventually require a bailout.
A bond auction by Spain later Thursday was seen as another crucial test of the eurozone's ability to stave off massive debt contagion, with Italy also due to hold a similar auction.
Nervousness about Spain caused the euro currency to drift lower after a rally on Wednesday following the Portuguese auction.
The euro slipped to $1.3099 in Tokyo, down from $1.3128 in New York late Wednesday. The euro also edged down to 108.82 yen from 108.95 yen. The dollar fell to 83.00 yen from 83.23.
"The eurozone risk seems to be subsiding, but we still need to watch the auctions in Spain and Italy," said Kazuhiro Takahashi, general manager at Daiwa Securities Capital Markets in Tokyo.
In Hong Kong and Tokyo, gains were led by banking stocks, with HSBC up 1.75 percent in Hong Kong in the afternoon, echoing strong performances by US and European banking stocks.
Shanghai was led higher by Chinese oil majors, boosted by rising oil prices.
Analysts said Sydney's rise in the face of Australia's massive floods suggested the market had for now priced in the expected cost of the damage, which covers a vast area larger than Texas.
New data also showed that Australian unemployment dropped to 5.0 percent in December, its lowest level in two years, although this also raised concerns about labour shortages.
US stock markets rose Wednesday to their best finishes since 2007-2008, buoyed by Portugal's bond auction and jumps in banking and energy stocks.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.72 percent to 11,755.44, its highest closing level since August 11, 2008.
The broader S&P 500 gained 0.90 percent to reach 1,285.96, a level last seen at the end of August 2008.
The tech-heavy Nasdaq rose 0.75 percent to 2,737.33, its best close since November 2007.
Wall Street was also helped by relatively positive data in the US Federal Reserve's Beige Book economic update. The Fed report concluded that the US economy expanded "moderately" in November and December.
Oil prices rose for a fourth consecutive day in Asia on a sharp slump in US crude stockpiles and forecasts of cold weather in the United States, analysts said.
New York's main contract, light sweet crude for February delivery, gained two cents to reach $91.88 a barrel in the afternoon. Brent North Sea crude for February was up 18 cents at $98.30.
Gold opened at $1,386.00-$1,387.00 an ounce in Hong Kong, up slightly from Wednesday's close of $1,385.50-$1,386.50.
In other markets:
-- Seoul fell 0.26 percent, or 5.47 points, to 2,089.48, after the central bank unexpectedly raised its key interest rate to curb inflation, while the government announced separate steps to control rising prices.
-- Manila rose 0.81 percent, or 32.88 points, to 4,070.11.
Manila Electric Co. fell 2.9 percent to 281.60 pesos, while Metropolitan Bank and Trust Co. inched down 0.9 percent to 64.70 pesos.
-- Wellington rose 1.16 percent, or 39.12 points, to 3,373.70.
Telecom Corp. surged 3.6 percent to NZ$2.29, Contact Energy rose 1.8 percent to 6.35 and Air New Zealand was up 0.7 percent at 1.53.
-- Taipei rose 0.12 percent, or 10.58 points, to 8,975.58.
Cathay Financial Holding rose 2.04 percent to Tw$55.0, while Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co closed 0.4 percent lower at 74.6.
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