Major Asian stock markets closed higher Thursday.

Tokyo's Nikkei index gained 1.7 percent to finish at 8,522.

Hong Kong's Hang Seng index soared 5.7 percent to finish the day's trading at 17,172.

Share prices were also higher in Bangkok, Jakarta, Kuala Lumpur, Manila, Seoul, Singapore, Sydney, Taipei and Wellington. The indexes in Mumbai and Shanghai were closed.

In currency trading, the dollar was selling at 76.65 yen, a loss of one-fourth of a yen from Wednesday.

Gold is trading at $1,651.70 an ounce.