"Europe has been a source of tail risk for markets for the last two years"
- Prasad Patkar, a portfolio manager at Platypus Asset Management Ltd.
Japanese stocks surged on Friday after the European Central Bank agreed on a new bond-buying program to lower Eurozone countries' borrowing costs.
The Nikkei 225 Stock Average edged higher 2.20 per cent, or 191.08 points, to 8,871.65. The broader Topix Index rose 2.25 per cent, or 16.17, to 735.17.
"We can see this rally extend for a little bit," said Guy Stear, the head of Asia Pacific research at Societe Generale SA in Hong Kong.
"The fact that the ECB wants to absorb more risk and the fact that they managed to get it done despite the Bundesbank opposition -- all that in the short term is positive. In the short term Asian stocks are going to do better."
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