Asia stocks higher after Greece vote passes; Nikkei up 0.2%

Investing.com – Asian stock markets were broadly higher on Thursday, as market sentiment was boosted after Greece’s parliament approved a critical austerity plan deemed necessary to avoid a sovereign debt default.  

During late Asian trade, Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index jumped 1.55%, Australia’s ASX/200 Index surged 1.7%, while Japan’s Nikkei 225 Index edged 0.2% higher.

Greek lawmakers were due to vote later in the day on the implementation of different parts of a EUR28.4 billion, five-year austerity package, paving the way for the country to receive further bailout loans needed to avoid a debt default.

Shares in Japanese lenders performed strongly, inspired from gains made by their global counterparts. Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group saw shares climb 2.1%, while rival Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group gained 1.3%.

Japanese exporters with exposure to Europe traded higher, with Sony jumping 3.1%, while Toyota gained 1.1%.

Meanwhile, shares in Kyushu Electric Power Company rallied 4.2% after the governor of Saga prefecture, home to the company’s 36-year-old nuclear plant, signaled that he was not opposed to restarting reactors at the facility.

That would mark the first restart from the 35 nuclear reactors shut for regular maintenance or kept idle since the March earthquake and tsunami.

The news boosted other shares in the sector, with Kansai Electric surging 4.65% and Chugoku Electric climbing 2.5%.

In Hong Kong, shares in oil producers led gains after oil prices rose above USD95 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, boosting earnings prospects for energy explorers.

China’s largest offshore oil producer CNOOC saw shares jump 2.15%, PetroChina shares advanced 1.1%, while China Shenhua Energy rose 1.9%.

The outlook for European stock markets was upbeat. The EURO STOXX 50 futures pointed to a gain of 0.3%, France’s CAC 40 futures added 0.4%, the FTSE 100 futures eased up 0.25%, while Germany's DAX futures were up 0.2%.

Later in the day, European Central Bank President Jean-Claude Trichet was to speak. Meanwhile, the U.S. was to publish its weekly government report on initial jobless claims, as well as data on manufacturing activity in the Chicago region.