Asian stock markets up as Kospi, Topix and Nikkei climb

On the Tokyo Stock Exchange, both the Topix and the Nikkei 225 are climbing sharply, up 1.3 percent and 3.9 percent, respectively.

Gains are even larger in South Korea, with the Kospi rising 5.0 percent. Earlier this week, trading was temporarily halted after the index plunged more than 8 percent.

In China, the Shanghai Stock Exchange is up slightly, 0.1 percent, while Shenzhen is up 0.4 percent.

The Hong Kong-based Hang Seng is one of today's exceptions and fell 1.1 percent during the morning.