Asia-Pacific markets climbed as investors shrug off the U.S. Federal Reserve's commitment to higher interest rates in tackling inflation.
Mainland China's Shenzhen Component was up 2.13%, closing at 11,332.01 while the Shanghai Composite rose 1.01% to 3,155.22.
Hong Kong's Hang Seng index jumped 1.38% in its final hour of trade, paring some of its earlier gains of more than 2%, as investors digested an improved reading in China's Caixin services Purchasing Managers' Index for December. Hong Kong's S&P Purchasing Managers' Index also showed eased pressure in the factory activity.
Australia's S&P/ASX 200 ended fractionally higher at 7,063.6. In Japan, the Nikkei 225 was up 0.40% at 25,820.8, while the Topix added 0.04% to close at 1,868.9. The Kospi rose 0.38% to end at 2,264.65 and the Kosdaq lost 0.55% to close at 679.92.
Overnight on Wall Street, stocks snapped a two-day losing streak as Fed minutes released Wednesday from the December meeting showed higher interest rates are to remain as long as inflation stays high.
CNBC's Jeff Cox contributed to this report.