.The Tokyo Stock Exchange's Nikkei-225 index advanced 120.30 points to close at 15,747.26, recovering from Thursday's worst finish since March 24 last year. "Strong gains on Wall Street yesterday lifted the index," said Hiroichi Nishi, senior market analyst at Nikko Securities.

"Foreign investors were bullish today, buying up shares across the board," Nishi said. "But in the US market, the Intel shock is easing," said Katsuhiko Kodama, head of the equity section at Toyo Securities. "That is contributing to a buoying of sentiment in Tokyo as well." In New York Thursday, the Dow Jones Industrial Average jumped 195.70 points to close at 10,824.06 and the tech-heavy Nasdaq surged 122.05 points to 3,778.35.

Hong Kong: Share prices rose 1.5 per cent following Wall Street's gains overnight. The benchmark Hang Seng index gained 233.23 points to close at 15,648.98 on turnover of 8.12 billion Hong Kong dollars (1.0 billion US).

Dealers said the Hang Seng Index was also boosted by gains in the Hang Seng futures, while sentiment overall was supported by the favourable response to MTR Corp's initial public offering. Josephine Hui, director at Celestial Asia Securities, said the Hang Seng index was supported by rotational buying among laggards, including Hongkong Electric, Henderson Land and the Bank of East Asia.

Singapore: Shares closed 1.6 per cent higher after a stronger closing on Wall Street overnight. The Straits Times Index gained 32.09 points to 1,997.03. A surge in blue chip Singapore Telecommunications (SingTel) played a major role in lifting the index, dealers said.

Kuala Lumpur: Malaysian shares closed one per cent lower on selling of blue chips amid continuing weak sentiment. The Kuala Lumpur Stock Exchange composite index ended down 7.34 points at 713.51. Dealers said the selling was most likely from foreign institutional investors on earnings concerns over Genting's Star Cruise unit and power company Tenaga's operating costs, with fears its costs for gas could rise at the end of the year.

"The market just drifted lower from the morning but the selling pressure on Genting and Tenaga was fairly heavy," a dealer with a local brokerage said.

Seoul: South Korean share prices closed 1.2 per cent higher on strong retail and foreign interest. The composite index closed up 7.37 points at 613.22.

Kyobo Securities analyst IM No-Jung said the market will likely see a correction in the coming week, following strong gains this week.

Manila: Philippine share prices closed 0.5 per cent lower in a sell-off triggered by the International Monetary Fund's rejection of the government's request to raise its budget deficit ceiling. The Philippine Stock Exchange composite index fell 7.34 points to close at 1,434.49. "The IMF won't allow the government to raise the budget deficit target. That has a snowball effect since if the country does not meet the target, it won't get the IMF loans and that will have a negative impact on the currency," said Fitzgerald Aclan, vice President of sales at KGI Securities.

Taipei: Taiwan share prices fell 2.0 per cent to a new low for the year on selling of technology stocks amid political and economic uncertainties. The Taiwan Stock Exchange weighted price index lost 132.51 points to 6,432.36, on turnover 65.15 billion Taiwan dollars (2.08 billion US). "Investors were dumping technology issues on worries of a potential power shortage," said Bentham Hung, research manager at Fuh-Hwa Securities Investment and Trust.

Bangkok: Thai stocks fell 0.9 per cent due to selling by foreign investors. The Stock Exchange of Thailand (SET) composite index dropped 2.46 points to close at 277.29 points and the SET 50 index was down 0.21 points at 19.06.

Jakarta: Indonesian share prices closed 1.4 per cent higher on bargain hunting in large cap stocks. The composite index closed up 5.813 points at 421.336 on volume of 490.91 million shares valued at 284.24 billion rupiah (32.0 million dollars). Broad market sentiment was supported by the rescheduling of 340 million dollars in debts with London Club creditors anounced Thursday, dealers said.