On Wednesday, both the S&P 500 and the technology-heavy Nasdaq closed at record highs in New York, and clear gains were also visible in Asia.
Japan's Nikkei 225 index hit a record high in Thursday trading, up 2.4 percent at lunchtime, CNBC reports. The broader Topix is up 1.3 percent.
South Korea's Kospi is up 2.1 percent, while Hong Kong's Hang Seng is up 1.1 percent.
Shenzhen is up 1.4 percent, and Shanghai is up 0.5 percent.
