Asian stocks rise in early trading after Wall Street rallies to top 10,000

TOKYO – TOKYO (AP) — Asian stock markets rose in early trading Thursday, lifted by an overnight rally on Wall Street as investors took heart from a robust profit forecast from U.S. bank State Street.

Japan's benchmark Nikkei 225 stock index jumped 234.05 points, or 2.5 percent, to 9,513.70 in the morning session.

South Korea's Kospi increased 25.27 points, or 1.5 percent, to 1,700.92, and Australia's S&P/ASX 200 was up 1.9 percent at 4,357.80.

Sentiment turned upbeat across Asia after the Dow Jones industrial average surged 274.66 points, or 2.8 percent, to 10,018.28 Wednesday. Investors chased gains in U.S. financial stocks following an upbeat forecast from State Street Corp.

The Dow finished above 10,000 for the first time since late June as investors had second thoughts about the heavy selling in the stock market during the last two weeks.