BANGKOK ? Asian stock markets rose Friday, continuing to be buoyed by a European deal aimed at slashing Greece's massive debt and preventing the crisis from engulfing too big to bailout countries such as Italy.
Japan's Nikkei 225 index jumped 1.2 percent to 9,030.85 as Asian stocks posted a second day of gains on the European news. Hong Kong's Hang Seng gained 1.9 percent to 20,061.44 and South Korea's Kospi rose 1 percent to 1,941.58.
Australia's S&P/ASX 200 gained marginally to 4,350.30 and the Shanghai Composite Index added 1.1 percent to 2,462.38. Benchmarks in Singapore, Taiwan, Indonesia and Thailand were also higher.
After two years of unsuccessful attempts to address the continent's debt problems, European leaders unveiled a deal Thursday aimed at preventing the Greek government's inability to pay its debt from escalating into another financial crisis like the one that followed the collapse of Lehman Brothers in 2008.
Banks agreed to take 50 percent losses on the Greek bonds they hold. Europe will also strengthen a financial rescue fund to protect the region's banks and other struggling European countries such as Italy and Portugal.
Renewed confidence in Europe helped fuel a surge on Wall Street late Thursday, as did signs of stronger U.S. economic growth and corporate earnings.
The government reported that the American economy grew at a 2.5 percent annual rate from July through September on stronger consumer spending and business investment. That was nearly double the 1.3 percent growth in the previous quarter.
The Dow Jones industrial average soared 2.9 percent to 12,208.55 ? its largest jump since Aug. 11. The S&P 500 rose 3.7 percent to 1,284.59. The Nasdaq composite leaped up 3.3 percent to 2,738.63.
Benchmark crude for December delivery was down 45 cents at $93.51 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The contract rose $3.76, or 4.2 percent, to settle at $93.96 in New York on Thursday.
Brent crude was down 46 cents at $111.62 a barrel on the ICE Futures Exchange in London.
In currencies, the euro softened to $1.4168 from $1.4216 late Thursday in New York. The dollar slipped to 75.86 yen from 75.94 yen.
The greenback hit a new record low against the Japanese yen Thursday, sinking to 75.63 yen at one point.
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