Investing.com - Asian stocks moved higher in Thursday trade, as regional markets moved between mild gains and losses on the overnight strength of Wall Street and hopes for progress from European leaders on settling the euro-zone’s debt issue.
During early Asian trade, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index rose 0.80% to 19,197.00, while Japan’s Nikkei Index gained 0.58% to 8,799.50.
In Sydney, ASX Ltd. halted trading Thursday morning pending investigation of a technical issue.
The Topix Index of all shares listed on the first section of the Tokyo Stock Exchange, declined 0.03% to trade at 746.22.
At a summit of European leaders in Brussels, European Council President Herman Van Rompuy said that finance ministers would finalize workings of a bank recapitalization plan outlined earlier Wednesday.
EU leaders had discussed a number of options, according to reports, to expand the power and reach of the USD612 billion European Financial Stability Facility, a rescue fund for debt threatened nations in the euro-zone.
The EFSF was established last year to sell bonds and raise funds to finance loans for ailing European nation’s saddled with excessive debt. The meeting in Brussels Wednesday was the 14th among government leaders to date called initially when Greece came under debt pressure, followed by threats to Ireland, Portugal, Italy and Spain.
French President Nicolas Sarkozy was reportedly hoping to enlist the support of China who would contribute to the fund by purchasing bonds issued by the EFSF.
European officials have set their sights on an expansion to the fund totaling USD1.38 trillion, according to reports.
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In a late report, European banks were to be pressed to raise USD147 billion by next June in order to comply with capital requirements agreed to by European leaders in Brussels.
In Wednesday trade, Wall Street shares moved higher on hopes for progress at the Brussels summit. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 1.39% to 11,869.00, the Nasdaq Composite Index advanced 0.46% to 2,650.67, and the S&P 500 added 1.05% to end the day at 1,242.00.
Earlier Wednesday, European shares ended the session mixed, with France’s CAC slipping 0.15% to 3,169.62, Britain’s FTSE 100 gained 0.50% to 5,553.24, while Germany’s DAX was lower by 0.51% to 6,016.07.
Shares of Toyota Motor Corp. fell 0.1% after the automaker announced a planned suspension of production at four North American plants due to parts disruptions from flooding in Thailand.
South Korean electronics giant Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd. fell 1.2% as the company argued for an Australian court to overturn its decision on alleged patent infringement surrounding sales of its tablet computer.
The outlook for European stocks was optimistic. France’s CAC 40 futures was higher by 1.01% to 3,240.90, Britain’s FTSE 100 futures added 0.49% to 5,598.40, while Germany’s DAX futures advanced 0.82% to 6,123.40.