Sydney  - Australian stocks continued thei

Manila  - Philippine shares rose 2.51 per cent on Thursday as investors snapped up bargain stocks, buoyed by strong performances in Wall Street and other Asian markets.

The Philippine Stock Exchange's 30-share composite index gained 48.26 points to close at 1,988.28 from Wednesday's finish of 1,939.69.

A total of 1.18 million shares valued at 2.73 billion pesos (56.28 million dollars) were traded.

Gainers outpaced losers 84 to 21, with 34 issues unchanged.

Tokyo  - Tokyo stocks ended Thursday morning trading higher on a more positive outlook of the US economy.

The benchmark Nikkei 225 Stock Average rose 43.1 points, or 0.51 per cent, to 8,523.09.

The broader Topix index of all first-section issues was up 1.26 points, or 0.15 per cent, to 819.75.

On currency markets at 9 am (0000 GMT), the dollar was quoted at 97.75-80 yen, up from Wednesday's 5 pm quote of 97.71-74 yen.

New York - US stock indices made gains Wednesday after government figures showed demand is rising for long-lasting goods and housing.

Durable goods orders increased 3.4 per cent in February, and purchases of new homes jumped 4.7 per cent, adding to a spate of slightly more positive economic news coming out of the United States in the last week.

The blue-chip Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 89.84 points, or 1.17 per cent, to 7,749.81, rallying during the final hour from a more than 100-point drop earlier in the afternoon.

Benchmarks were trading on a choppy note with a positive bias ahead of March F&O series expiry and meager performance by the worldwide markets.

Real estate, oil & gas and metal frontline stocks were the major gainers.

At 1:45 pm, Bombay Stock Exchange’s Sensex gained 137.23 points (1.45%) at 9608.27. The index hit an intra-day high of 9648.67 and low of 9430.45.

In the meantime, the broad based Nifty stood at 2966.65, up 27.95 points (0.95%) after touching an intra-day high of 2987.30 and low of 2923.30.

Tokyo  - Tokyo stocks fell in early trading on Wednesday on profit-taking, breaking a two-day climb.

The benchmark Nikkei 225 Stock Average dipped by 0.73 per cent, or 61.58 points to 8,426.72 by mid-trading, reversing earlier gains.

The broader Topix index of all first-section issues was almost flat, dropping 0.27 points, or 0.03 per cent, to 812.45.

Traders also reacted to reports that Japan's overseas exports dropped by 49.4 per cent in February year-on-year, with consumer electronics titles contributing most to the slump.