Asian stocks surged on Wednesday, with Japan and Hong Kong's main benchmarks hitting six-month highs, after China indicated plans to expand its support to Europe as the region grapples with debt woes.
The Nikkei Stock Average rallied 2.3% to 9260.34, while Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index jumped 2.1% to 21,365.23, their highest closing levels since August last year,
The Shanghai Composite Index gained 0.9% to 2366.70, the South Korean Kospi climbed 1.1% to 2025.32, while Australia's S&P/ASX 200 index rose 0.3% to 4253.40.
U.S. shares had ended Tuesday mostly unchanged, with stocks staging a late recovery from early losses related to weak retail sales figures.
"(U.S. stocks) were prevented from registering deeper losses following news that Greece will commit to austerity measures," said strategists at Credit Agricole.
Supportive news concerning Europe also emerged in Asia on Wednesday, as People's Bank of China Governor Zhou Xiaochuan said he believes the euro zone's challenges can be solved and that China will expand its investments in Europe.
"We saw a big spike" after the Chinese central bank governor "came out and said they are going to take an even larger role in Europe's recapitalization," said Peter Esho, strategist at City Index; "the market just got a lot of confidence from that."
Japanese exporters rallied as the dollar extended its surge against the yen overnight, prompted by Tuesday's surprise monetary easing from the Bank of Japan.
The dollar traded at Y78.49, up from Y77.45 late Tuesday.
Among export-sector gainers Wednesday were Toyota Motor Corp., up 4.6%, Honda Motor Co. 3.3% higher and Sony Corp. rocketing ahead by 5.7%.
The Hong Kong market got a boost as property firms extended a rebound from losses at the start of the week, with Sun Hung Kai Properties Ltd. climbing 4.3%, Hang Lung Properties Ltd. trading up 3.4%, and Sino Land Co. gaining 4%.
The gains in Japan were even made against notable losses for several firms.
Yahoo Japan Corp. fell 3.7% after the Wall Street Journal reported that Yahoo's bid to sell a large portion of its stakes in Asian Internet companies Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. and Yahoo Japan was off the table.
Yahoo owns about 40% of Alibaba.com - shares of which remained in a trading halt Wednesday - and 35% of Yahoo Japan, while Softbank, which traded up 0.4%, also holds a stake.
Shares of Elpida Memory Inc. plunged 14.4% in Tokyo after the firm said Tuesday that talks to secure capital to ease the company's debt burdens weren't going smoothly.
Elpida had been in negotiations with the Japanese government and other entities, but said in its most recent statement that "material uncertainty about its assumed going concern is found."
Elpida - the world's No. 3 DRAM maker - saw its two larger rivals advance in Seoul, as Samsung Electronics Co. gained 5.1%, and Hynix Semiconductor Inc. rose 5.3%.
In Australia, earnings and guidance statements provided some support, with Commonwealth Bank of Australia up 0.5% after posting a higher first-half profit, and investment firm Perpetual Ltd. up 7.2% after it lifted its profit guidance.
However, energy and material firms dragged, with Aquarius Platinum Ltd. falling 6.5%, and Rio Tinto Ltd. trading down 0.6%.
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