HONG KONG, Jan 3: Asian markets mostly rose on Thursday extending the previous day’s huge gains after the US lawmakers agreed a deal to avert the fiscal cliff, but concerns over upcoming fights in Washington hurt sentiment.

Sydney rose 0.74 per cent, or 34.8 points, to 4,740.7 — the highest since May 2011 — and Hong Kong added 0.37 per cent, or 86.62 points, to 23,398.60, but Seoul slipped 0.58 per cent, or 11.69 points, to 2,019.41.

Shanghai and Tokyo were closed for public holidays. Relief that Washington had reached a last-minute deal to avoid huge tax hikes and spending cuts sent global markets soaring on Wednesday, with Hong Kong hitting a 19-month high and Wall Street also starting the year with a bang.

The Dow jumped 2.35 per cent, the S&P 500 added 2.54 per cent and the Nasdaq surged 3.07 per cent. Economists had warned that going over the cliff would have likely seen the economy tip into recession, with knock-on effects for the rest of the world.

In other markets: Taipei rose 0.74 per cent, or 57.62 points, to 7,836.84. Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. gained 1.41 per cent to Tw$101.0 while leading smartphone maker HTC was down 2.97 per cent at Tw$294.0.

Manila climbed 1.25 per cent, or 73.06 points, to 5,934.05. Philippine Long Distance Telephone Co. gained 2.03 per cent to 2,612 pesos while Ayala Corp. rose 1.52 per cent to 534 pesos.

Wellington rose 0.39 per cent, or 15.85 points, to 4,082.37. Fletcher Building added 0.8 per cent to NZ$8.46 while Contact Energy gained 1.5 per cent to NZ$5.28.

Singapore rose 0.72 per cent, or 23.06 points, to 3,224.80. Real estate giant CapitaLand gained 2.13 per cent to Sg$3.84 and DBS Bank gained 0.41 per cent to Sg$14.84.

Kuala Lumpur rose 1.10 per cent, or 17.93 points, to 1,692.65. UMW Holdings gained 4.5 per cent to 12.50 ringgit, Axiata added 3.5 per cent to 6.81 while British American Tobacco lost 0.9 per cent to 61.46.

Jakarta ended up 1.21 per cent, or 52.78 points, at 4,399.26. State-controlled miner Aneka Tambang climbed 2.26 per cent to 1,360 rupiah and car maker Astra International rose 4.67 per cent to 7,850 rupiah.

Bangkok added 0.07 per cent, or 0.96 points, to 1,408.41. Telecoms company Advanced Info Service dropped 1.91 per cent to 205 baht, while power giant Electricity Generating Public Co. gained 1.36 per cent to 149.50 baht.

Mumbai rose 0.26 per cent, or 50.54 points, to 19,764.78. Private carrier Jet Airways rose 4.7 per cent to 606.85 rupees.—AFP