Asian markets up on Wall Street rally

HONG KONG, China -- Asian markets made ground by midday Thursday, boosted by Wall Street's 3.88 percent overnight gain.

VIDEO CNN's Lian Pek with Asian stock market update Play video (QuickTime, Real or Windows Media)

In Tokyo, the benchmark Nikkei average ended the morning up 0.42 percent at 13,751.15. The capital-weighted TOPIX index rose 0.22 points to 1,360.03.

Markets in Hong Kong, Korea, Taiwan and Australia were all stronger.

The benchmark S&P/ASX200 opened at a record high in Australia, reaching 3424.6 before ending the morning session at 3409.6 for a gain of 29.5 points.

In Tokyo, the market erased sharp gains by midday. Caution before a major index reshuffle and uncertainty over earnings from corporate giants partly offset sentiment inspired by Wall Street's rise.

Traders noted investor caution ahead of Morgan Stanley Capital International's (MSCI) index reshuffle. Index compiler MSCI will announce new constituents and inclusion factors for its influential global indices on Saturday.

Nonetheless, Wall Street's rally prompted investors to buy back battered component manufacturers. Kyocera Crop led the gainers, rising 4.15 percent to 11,300 yen.

Murata Manufacturing Co Ltd, meanwhile, fell 0.41 percent to 9.700 yen, as investors were reluctant to pick up companies with weak earnings prospects.

In the auto sector, Toyota Motor Corp rose 3.23 percent to 4,160 yen after reporting record profits for the last business year.

Hutchison up on DoCoMo infusion

In Hong Kong, the benchmark Hang Seng Index rose 2.25 percent to 13,636.04 at the open, also buoyed by a rally in China-linked shares.

Shares of conglomerate Hutchison Whampoa rose 2.33 percent to HK$88, after Japan's top mobile carrier NTT DoCoMo announced it would pay US$30.44 million for an additional 6.37 percent stake in its subsidiary Hutchison Telephone.

Metal prices on the rise

In Sydney, resources stocks such as BHP and Rio Tinto led the gains after a rise in metal prices.

Traders noted that strong metal prices and continuing weakness in the Australian dollar along with some optimism that growth prospects may be heading for an improvement helped miners' gains outpace the broader market.

BHP advanced 56 cents, or 2.6 percent, to A$22.22 after its proposed merger partner Billiton Plc gained 3 percent. Rio Tinto shares rose A$1.06, or 2.9 percent to A$37.84.

Australia's largest nickel producer WMC Ltd rose 15 cents to A$9.85 after the nickel price jumped and Australia's largest gold miner Normandy Mining Ltd climbed five cents to A$1.19 after gold touched a two-month high.

Market heavyweight News Corp Ltd also gained 26 cents to A$17.65 after the media giant's U.S. traded shares advanced.

In Korea, stocks moved sharply higher in earlier trade led by chipmakers and brokerage shares. The Korea Composite Stock Price Index was up 3.19 percent at 590.64. The over-the-counter Kosdaq gained 3.22 percent to 82.70.

Electronics giant Samsung Electronics gained 7,000 won to 217,500 won. Troubled chipmaker Hynix Semiconductor rose 170 won to 4,235 won, while its creditor Korea Exchange Bank gained 195 won to 2,520.

Brokerage shares such as Daewoo Securities gained 500 won to 9,550. LG Securities and Hyundai Securities also rose.

In Taiwan, shares were higher in early trade. The benchmark TAIEX index was up 1.03 percent at 5,134.56.

Reuters contributed to this report.

Note: Pages will open in a new browser window

External sites are not endorsed by CNN Interactive.