Asian markets surge on Wall Street gains

Japan8217;s Nikkei 224 index rose 1.3 per cent to 9,585.59. Vehicle makers,which depend heavily on US demand,posted strong gains.

Toyota Motor Corp.,the world8217;s No. 1 auto maker,rose 1.7 per cent. Smaller rivals Honda Motor Co. gained 1.6 per cent,while Nissan Motor Corp. was up 2.1 per cent.

South Korea8217;s Kospi index slid 0.3 per cent to 2,065.01 after the Bank of Korea raised its key interest rate for the fifth time in less than a year amid a bid to fight inflation.

The central bank lifted the benchmark base rate to 3.25 per cent from 3 per cent at a monthly monetary policy meeting.

The action dampened investment sentiment,because traders _ believing that rate hikes discourage growth and hurt stock prices _ often take fright. Hynix Semiconductor,one of the world8217;s largest memory chip makers,sank 4.7 per cent. LG Electronics lost 2.6 per cent.

Hong Kong8217;s Hang Seng was 0.8 per cent down to 22,440.99 as banking shares dropped.

The Bank of China Ltd.,one of the country8217;s four major state-owned commercial lenders,lost 0.5 per cent. Agricultural Bank of China Ltd.,the country8217;s biggest rural lender,lost 1.2 per cent. Industrial and Commercial Bank of China,the world8217;s biggest bank by market value,was down 0.3 per cent.

Australia8217;s ASX/Samp;P 200 rose 0.3 per cent to 4,562.50. Benchmarks in Indonesia,the Philippines and New Zealand were also higher,while Singapore and Taiwan and mainland China fell.

On Wall Street,a report that US exports hit a record in April sent stocks sharply higher Thursday as investors hoped the economic recovery may not be as sluggish as grim economic reports in the past week have suggested.

Stocks have been slipping since mid-April as investors become concerned that the US economy has hit a soft patch. Rising oil prices,Japan8217;s tsunami and nuclear disaster and the risk that Greece might default on its debt have led investors to lower their forecasts for US growth this year.

The Dow Jones industrial average rose 0.6 per cent to close at 12,124.36. The Standard amp; Poor8217;s 500 index rose 0.7 per cent to 1,289.00. The Nasdaq composite rose 0.4 per cent to 2,684.87.

Thursday8217;s gains broke a six-day losing streak and marked the first time stocks rose in June. Stocks had dropped following poor reports on manufacturing,home sales,hiring and consumer confidence.

Benchmark crude for July delivery rose 11 cents to 103.04 per barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The contract rose 1.19 to settle at 101.93 a barrel on Nymex on Thursday.

In currencies,the euro rose to 1.4537 from 1.4509 in late trading Thursday in New York. The dollar fell to 80.08 yen from 80.26 Japanese yen.