Asian markets firm

All Asian markets were trading higher this morning after successful debt auction by Portugal on Wednesday and firm closing on Wall Street.

The Bank of Korea surprised the markets by raising rates by a quarter point to 2.7%. The Kospi Composite index was up marginally by 0.2%.

Hong Kong markets extended gains, up over 1% at 24,370 led by gains in heavyweight stocks HSBC Holding PLC and fashion retailer Espirit. China's Shanghai Composite was up 0.2%, at 2,827. Japan's Nikkei 225 was up 0.6%, at 10,580. Straits Times and Taiwan Weighted were up 0.3% each.