Hang Seng 18,877 +443.02 +2.40%
S&P/ASX 200 4,101 +44.60 +1.10%
Markets in China, Japan, Thailand and New Zealand were closed for a holiday.
Asian stocks rose as manufacturing growth from Australia, China and India added to optimism the region’s economies will withstand Europe’s sovereign-debt crisis. Chinese lenders and commodity suppliers advanced as manufacturing in India and China improved in December, while Australian output expanded for the first time in six months, separate surveys showed.
BHP Billiton, which gets about 28 percent of sales from China, gained 1.1 percent in Sydney. Industrial & Commercial Bank of China, the world’s No. 1 lender by market value, advanced 3 percent as trading in Hong Kong resumed. Li & Fung, a supplier of toys and clothes to retailers including Wal-Mart Stores Inc., climbed 6 percent on speculation consumer spending in the U.S. will increase after payrolls climbed for a second month.