Japan's benchmark Nikkei 225 was up 1.06% in afternoon trade on Thursday, leading a positive day across the board in Asia.

In China, Hong Kong's Hang Seng index was also up just over 1%, while the Shanghai Composite was was up 1.3%

In Australia, the benchmark S&P/ASX 200 index finished up 0.14% to 5,661.6 points.