Asia Roundup: Marts soar on Europe, US leads

HONG KONG: Asia's stock markets surged yesterday, boosted by another strong performance on Wall Street and hopes European leaders will come together to plan a route out of the region's sovereign debt crisis.

Sentiment was also lifted by better-than-expected economic data out of Washington that eased concerns the US is slipping into recession.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel on Wednesday called on her eurozone counterparts to recapitalise the banking sector to help prevent Greece's debt crisis from spreading to other nations.

Her view that helping the banks was "justified, if we have a joint approach" echoed comments from the EU's economic affairs commissioner the previous day, and gave a much-needed boost to nervous investors.

Tokyo's Nikkei 225 Index added 139.04 points, or 1.66 per cent, to 8,522.02, turning buoyant after a rise in crude and precious metal prices overnight.

"In addition to talks of putting in place a system of backstops for European banks, US macroeconomic data have generally been solid, leading to an improvement in market sentiment," said Yoshihiro Okumura, general manager of research at Chibagin Asset Management.

In Sydney, the benchmark S&P/ASX 200 put on 143.4 points, or 3.65 per cent, to 4069.9, with gains across the board as Australian investors built on momentum from global markets. It was the largest daily surge since November 2008, during the depths of the global financial crisis.

"It seems the catalyst for this mini-rally we have under way is a belief that EU policymakers will finally be able to stem the rot that has destroyed the heart of the European economy," said IG Markets analyst Cameron Peacock.

"Optimism seems to be growing that something will be done."

In other markets:

* Seoul's Kospi rallied 2.63 per cent, or 43.80 points, to 1,710.32.

* Taipei added 2.04 per cent, or 142.85 points, at 7,132.0.

* Manila closed 1.76 per cent, or 67.39 points, higher at 3,890.52.

* Jakarta jumped 4.55 per cent, or 149.87 points, to 3,443,11.

* Bangkok rose 5.92 percent or 51.07 points to 913.72.

Shanghai and Mumbai were closed for public holidays.- AFP