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Hong Kong - Asian shares mostly rose on Thursday as data indicated an improvement in Chinese manufacturing activity.
Minutes from the US Federal Reserve showed officials are considering their policy options after the bank's stimulus programme ends.
Wall Street provided a healthy lead, with all three main indexes well up, while the dollar added to its gains in New York as traders become more confident in higher-yielding, riskier assets.
Tokyo rallied 2.11% to 14 337.79, Sydney jumped 1.02% to 5 479.9 and Seoul gained 0.36% to 2 015.59.
Hong Kong rose 0.51% to 22 953.76, but Shanghai closed 0.18% lower, giving up 0.18% to end at 2 021.29.
HSBC said preliminary data from its purchasing managers index (PMI) showed activity in China's factories declining at a much slower pace in May than in April.
The banking giant's PMI improved to 49.7 from 48.1 last month.
While the figure is below the 50-mark - suggesting contraction - it is the second straight month of improvement and will fuel hopes that the world's number two economy is picking up.
"The improvement was broad-based with both new orders and new export orders back in expansionary territory," Qu Hongbin, HSBC's Hong Kong-based economist, said in the statement.
"Some tentative signs of stabilisation are emerging, partly as a result of the recent mini-stimulus measures and lower borrowing costs."
But he added that "downside risks to growth remain, particularly as the property market continues to cool".
In the United States, minutes from the Fed's April committee meeting showed policymakers are discussing how to manage the impact of an interest rate hike they expect to implement in the middle of next year.
Their talks come as the bank winds down its massive stimulus programme amid growing signs that the US economy is getting back on track after the financial crisis.
"The committee's discussion of this topic was undertaken as part of prudent planning and did not imply that normalisation would necessarily begin sometime soon," the minutes said.
"Because the Federal Reserve has not previously tightened the stance of policy while holding a large balance sheet, most participants judged that the committee should consider a range of options and be prepared to adjust the mix of its policy tools as warranted."
US rates have been at a record low since December 2008, part of the bank's unprecedented loose monetary policy aimed at helping the economy recover from the global recession.
On Wall Street the Dow rallied 0.97%, the S&P 500 jumped 0.81% and the Nasdaq rose 0.85%.
And in currency trade the dollar bought ¥101.60 in the afternoon, up from ¥101.38 late in New York and much higher than the ¥101.17 in Tokyo earlier on Wednesday.
The euro bought $1.3678 and ¥138.92 against $1.3686 and ¥138.76 in US trade.
Oil prices dropped after rallying late on Wednesday on news that US stockpiles had plummeted, lifting hopes that demand is picking up.
US benchmark West Texas Intermediate for delivery in July eased seven cents to $104.00 in afternoon trade, after jumping $1.74 to close at a one-month high on Wednesday.
Brent North Sea crude for July was down 13 cents at $110.41. The contract gained 86 cents in London, touching a level last seen in early March.
Gold fetched $1 294.07 an ounce at 10:00 compared with $1 292.14 late on Wednesday.
In other markets:
Taipei climbed 1.21% to 8 969.63.
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. rose 1.24% to Tw$122.0 while smartphone maker HTC was 0.62% higher at Tw$163.5.
Wellington rose 0.40% to 5 108.57.
Air New Zealand was 1.64% higher at NZ$2.17 and Contact Energy added 0.18% to N$5.46.
Manila rose 1.01% to close at 6 830.56.
Philippine Long Distance Telephone added 0.55% to 2 900 and Ayala put on 1.32% to 654 pesos.
