Asian shares surged on Thursday following
global markets trends as several major central banks cut dollar borrowing costs
and relieved monetary provisions in China. Shanghai Composite Index jumped
3.5%, Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index rocketed 5.9%. Japan's Nikkei Stock Average added
2.2%, Australia's S&P/ASX 200 index gained 2.6% while South Korea's Kospi
edged up 4.2%.