Asian markets trade higher

Asian markets surged in the morning session lifted by gains on Wall Street and Japan's manufacturing shares rallied on reports that companies would resume production.

US markets logged gains on encouraging earnings outlook by technology companies. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 0.7% and the Nasdaq Composite gained 1.4% and the Standard & Poor's 500-stock index added 0.9%.

In Asia the Nikkei Stock Average was up 1% following gains in tech shares following upgrade fro Sony Corporation. Hang Seng advanced 0.9% bouyed by banking shares after Bank of China posted upbeat earnings as profit for 2010 surged 29%. Shanghai Composite also gained 0.5%.  The SGX Nifty was up 32 points, at 5582.

South Korea's Kospi Composite advanced 0.6%, Taiwan's weighted index climbed 0.5% and Singapore's Strait Times edged up 0.9%.