Asian stocks follow Wall Street sharply higher on ECB hints

Asian markets rallied on Friday morning after Wall Street closed with solid gains the night before, with investor sentiment boosted by hints from the European Central Bank over further easing.

While the European Central Bank (ECB) made no changes to monetary policy on Thursday, President Mario Draghi made strong indications that further easing was likely to be announced in December. Without revealing his hand too much, Draghi noted that the bank was "willing and able to act using all instruments available", while putting any additional stimulus off until fresh macro-economic projections were released in December.

Japan's benchmark Nikkei 225 index rallied 2.31% to 18,862.25 points within the first hour of trade on Friday, while Tokyo's broader Topix gauge jumped 2.14% to 1,550.74 points.

Hong Kong's benchmark Hang Seng index advanced 1.45% to 23,176.71 points at the opening bell, and mainland China's benchmark Shanghai Composite grew a more moderate 0.27% to 3,377.69 points.

Korea's benchmark Kospi index jumped 1.48% to 2,054.60 points this morning in Seoul.

The benchmark Australian S&P/ASX 200 index rallied 1.81% to 5,359.30 points in Sydney, with media and bank stocks in pole position on Friday morning.

New Zealand's benchmark S&P/NZX 50 index rose 0.72% to 5,965.98 points this afternoon in Wellington.