Soothing comments on the economy from Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao on Wednesday also provided support, while dealers looked ahead to a European Union summit set to begin later in the day.
Shanghai rose 1.24 percent and Hong Kong added 0.70 percent in the afternoon, while Tokyo closed 2.00 percent higher, adding 176.31 points to 8,982.86 as the weakening yen boosted exporters.
Sydney gained 0.69 percent, adding 31.2 points to 4,559.4 and Seoul advanced 0.20 percent, or 3.97 points, to 1,959.12.
China said its economy grew 7.4 percent in the third quarter to the end of September, easing for a seventh straight quarter and underscoring its weakest performance since the global financial crisis.
However, the figure matched expectations, while other economic data pointed to a possible bottoming out of the economy, which has been severely hit this year by troubles in its key export markets of Europe and the United States.
Growth in the quarter was the slowest since 6.6 percent recorded in the first three months of 2009 during the global financial crisis.
The economy grew 7.6 percent in the second quarter of 2012.
But industrial output rose a better-than-expected 9.2 percent year on year in September, while retail sales, the main gauge of consumer spending, rose 14.2 percent in September.
The figures follow data at the weekend showing exports, which have seen a steep drop in recent months, surge almost 10 percent in September.
"The latest data supports our hypothesis that the economy may have bottomed and will turn for the better in the fourth quarter," Zheng Pin, an analyst with Minsheng Securities, told Dow Jones Newswires.
"This gives the market newfound confidence," he added.
On Wednesday Wen said he was confident China's economy was stabilising and that measures put in place would ensure it would continue to do so, adding that he expected Beijing's target of 7.5 percent growth for the year would be achieved.
"We have confidence that with hard work we can realise the year's economic and social development goals," he added, although he also warned that the weak global economy would pose a challenge.
Regional markets were already higher on Thursday morning as traders extended the previous day's gains after Moody's held off a downgrade of Spain's credit rating, while hopes were growing that Madrid would ask for a bailout.
Concerns over Greece have also eased on rumours it will be given more time to implement crucial reforms that will help get the economy back on track.
News that US housing starts leaped 15.0 percent in September from August to an annual rate of 872,000, the strongest pace since July 2008, indicated that the world's number one economy is gradually getting back on track.
On Wall Street, the news helped shares reverse earlier losses. The Dow ended flat, the S&P 500 gained 0.41 percent and the Nasdaq added 0.10 percent.
The safe-haven yen was down as dealers became more confident in buying up riskier assets.
In afternoon Tokyo trade, the dollar rose to 79.15 yen from 78.97 yen in New York late Wednesday, while the euro hit 103.71 yen, up from 103.60 yen.
The single currency was also trading at $1.3105, compared with $1.3120.
Oil prices were higher. New York's main contract, light sweet crude for delivery in November gained a cent to $92.13 a barrel and Brent North Sea crude for December delivery added 35 cents to $113.57.
Gold was at $1,748.80 at 0600 GMT compared with $1,749.60 late Wednesday.
In other markets:
-- Taipei was flat, edging 1.01 points higher to 7,465.41.
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. added 0.80 percent to Tw$88.1 while Hong Hai Precision was 0.11 percent higher at Tw$87.5.
-- Wellington closed 0.93 percent higher, adding 36.77 points to 4,001.95.
Telecom rose 0.8 percent to NZ$2.46 and Fisher & Paykel Appliances gained 2.4 percent to NZ$1.27, while Fletcher Building surged 3.27 percent to NZ$7.59.
Copyright AFP (Agence France-Presse), 2012