05:40 AM EST, 03/05/2026 (MT Newswires) -- Asian stock markets rose Thursday following overnight rallies on Wall Street, while oil prices somewhat settled down. Traders also looked for values after the sell-offs earlier in the week.

Hong Kong, Shanghai and Tokyo finished in the green, while Seoul's KOSPI rose 9.6%, recouping much the index's decline in the previous session.

In Japan, the Nikkei 225 opened higher on rumors of US-Iran war talks, wobbled, but still finished up 1.9% at buyers looked for values after recent declines. A softer yen undergirded export issues.

The benchmark Nikkei 225 rose 1,032.52 to 55,278.06, as gaining issues outnumbered losers 175 to 48.

Leading the upside was oil-driller Inpex, up 7.5%, while home-furnishings chain Nitori fell 3.6%.

In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng Index opened higher and faded, but held enough ground to close up 0.3%, on somewhat stabilizing oil prices, and a Beijing outlook for sustained economic growth in 2026.

The broad gauge Hang Seng rose 71.86 to 25,321.34, as gaining issues outnumbered losers 46 to 40. The Hang Seng TECH Index lost 0.7% on the day, while the Mainland Properties Index rose 0.6%.

Leading the upside was insurer AIA, up 5.1%, while JD Health International declined 6.2%.

On the mainland, the Shanghai Composite rose 0.6% to 4,108.57.

In economic news, Beijing unveiled a 4.5% to 5% gross domestic product growth target for 2026 at the National People's Congress, compared with last year's performance of about 5%.

On the other regional exchanges, the Taiwan TWSE increased 2.6%; the Australian ASX 200 inclined 0.4%; the Singapore Straits Times Index rose 0.7%, and the Thai Set advanced 2.4%. In late trading in Mumbai, the Sensex was up 1.2%.

The MSCI All Country Asia Pacific Index rose 2.4\6% on the day.

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