Taipei - Taiwan stocks rose 2.07 per cent on Thursday, fuelled by Wall Street's overnight rally and bullish sentiment over a government plan to sign a financial memorandum of understanding with China, dealers said.

The main TAIEX index opened sharply higher, surging past the 6,000-point level in mid-session, and easing somewhat on profit taking before closing at 5,997.17, up
121.98 points or 2.07 per cent from Wednesday's trading.

Manila  - Philippine share prices rose 2.08 per cent on Thursday on the back of Wall Street's overnight gains despite lower growth forecasts for the domestic economy.

The 30-share composite index of the Philippine Stock Exchange gained 42.17 points to close at 2,064.66 from Wednesday's finish of 2,022.49.

Gainers swamped losers 85 to 24, while 29 issues were unchanged. A total of 2.08 billion shares worth 2.64 billion pesos (55 million dollars) were traded.

Tokyo - China-related shares led the Japanese market to rise more almost 3 per cent in Thursday morning trading.

The benchmark Nikkei 225 Stock Average jumped 253.43 points, or 2.9 per cent, to 8,996.39.

The broader Topix index of all first-section issues was also up 16.67 points, or 2 per cent, at 851.92.

Investors were attracted to mainly China-related titles Thursday on hopes of the nation's economic growth.

New York  - US stock markets rose on Wednesday on signs of economic recovery as the Federal Reserve said a number of regions are reporting an easing of the country's economic downturn.

The Federal Reserve said five of its 12 regional banks reported a "moderation in the pace of decline, and several saw signs that activity in some sectors was stabilizing at a low level," according to the central bank's Beige Book, a regional report on the economy.

Indian Stock markets continued the upward move on Wednesday as well. The markets opened sharply lower on the back of weak global cues and disappointing guidance from Infosys, but saw significant recovery from the day's low as huge buying interest from the Institutional and local players helped the Sensex successfully to close above 11,000 mark while the Nifty to close above the 200-day moving average of 3,425.

The BSE Sensex has touched an intraday high of 11,337 before closing the day at 11,284 up 318 points or 2.9%. The Nifty shut at 3,484 up 3% or 101 points after hitting a high of 3,497 and low of 3,336.

Tokyo - Japanese markets extended losses Wednesday on the yen's advance against the US dollar. Investors were selling also because worries grew on the US economic outlook following weak retail sales reports in March.

The benchmark Nikkei 225 Stock Average was down 74.33 points, or 0.84 per cent, to 8,768.35.

The broader Topix index of all first-section issues declined 9.27 points, or 1.1 per cent, at 834.15.

Tokyo investors sold mainly export-oriented issues as the stronger yen affects Japanese firms' earnings.