06:53 AM EDT, 09/12/2024 (MT Newswires) -- Asian stock markets largely rallied Thursday as tech issues followed overnight gains on Wall Street by peers after an inflation report from Washington generally met outlooks.

Hong Kong and Tokyo finished in the green, although Shanghai edged lower. Other regional exchanges stepped higher, with a new all-time record high set in Mumbai.

In Japan, the Nikkei 225 opened sharply higher on Wall Street cues and finished up 3.4%, as traders waded back into tech issues.

The benchmark Nikkei 225 rose 1,213.50 to 36,833.27, snapping a seven trading-day streak in the red, as gaining issues outnumbered losers 222 to three.

Leading the upside was industrial-machinery maker Ebara, up 11.5%, while drugmaker Daiichi Sankyo fell 2.1%.

In economic news, Japan's producer price index, or PPI, increased by 2.5% on-year in August, down from a 3% on-year rise in July. The PPI fell 0.2% in August from July.

In other news, Bank of Japan policy board member Naoki Tamura said the central bank should eventually raise its short-term policy rate to 1%. The Bank of Japan BOJ increased its present key rate to 0.25% in July, from a previous range of zero to 0.1%.

In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng Index opened higher and held ground, finishing up 0.8% on the outlook for easing from major central banks.

The broad gauge Hang Seng rose 131.68 to 17,240.39 as gaining issues outnumbered losers to 49 to 31. The Hang Seng TECH Index gained 0.7% on the day, while the Mainland Properties Index rose 1.1%.

Leading the upside was Wuxi AppTec, gaining 6%, while Chai Tai Fook Jewelry fell 4.1%.

On the mainland, the Shanghai Composite fell 0.2% to 2,717.12.

On the other regional exchanges, the S. Korean KOSPI rose 2.3%; the Taiwan TWSE added 3%; the Australian ASX 200 rose 1.1%; the Singapore Straits Times Index gained 0.7%, and the Thai Set inclined 0.4%. In late trading in Mumbai, the Sensex was up 1.8%.

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