Asian Market Update

 Asian equity markets rallied on Thursday, while oil prices enjoyed a rare fillip following a surge in New York and Europe on strong US data and expectations for fresh eurozone stimulus measures.

Confidence was also given a much needed boost by minutes from the US Federal Reserve's December meeting suggesting it will not hike interest rates before April.

Tokyo rallied 1.67 per cent by lunch as the yen gave up recent gains against the dollar, while Hong Kong added 0.88 per cent, Sydney added 0.77 per cent and Seoul surged 1.14 per cent. However, Shanghai was flat after already climbing more than four percent so far this year.