Tokyo - Tokyo stocks surged nearly 8 per cent Wednesday, on the back of Wall Street's overnight rally and the dollar's advance against the yen, sending the benchmark Nikkei 225 Stock Average above 8,000.

The Nikkei rose 589.98 points, or 7.74 per cent, to end at 8,211.9.

The broader Topix index of all first-section issues was up 46.29 points, or 5.9 per cent, at 830.32.

The Tokyo market sentiment was buoyed also by speculations that the Bank of Japan is considering an interest-rate cut to help stabilize the market.

Taipei - Taiwan sto

Indian equities opened on a bright note tracking hopeful worldwide signals.

Metal, consumer durables and realty stocks, among the severely hammered in recent weeks, were among the top gainers this morning.

BSE Midcap and Smallcap index gained 2% and 1.86% respectively.

The Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) on Tuesday celebrated Diwali at evening when the index posted a sharp 547-point gain taking back some eagerness among investors after last Friday’s slaughter.

Sydney - A big bounce on Wall Street saw Australian stocks make gains Wednesday, halting a five-day losing streak that had taken the market to a four-year low.

The ASX 200 quickly rose 154 points, or 4 per cent, to 3,948, but the rally ran out of steam, with the index closing up 51 points, or 1.3 per cent, to 3,845.

A local rally had been expected after the US blue-chip Dow Jones Industrial Average posted its second-largest point gain in history, following strong stock gains in Europe and Asia.

Hong Kong - Hong Kong stocks continued their rebound Wednesday after a volatile two days which saw the Hang Seng's Index record its biggest loss and biggest gain in more than 10 years.

The blue-chip index ended the morning's trading 171 points, or 1.4 per cent higher, rising to 12,767 points.

The increase continued the rebound which began Tuesday when bargain hunters pushed the index up by 14.35 per cent, its biggest rally in more than 10 years.

Manila - Philippine share prices rose 4.47 per cent on Wednesday as investors snapped up bargain stocks following overnight gains in Wall Street.

The 30-share composite index of the Philippine Stock Exchange added 76.23 points to close at 1,780.64 from Tuesday's finish of 1,704.41.

A total of 1.158 billion shares worth 2.319 billion pesos (47.32 million dollars) were traded.

Gainers led losers 87 to 27, while 41 issues were unchanged.