HONG KONG, July 25 (AFP): Asian markets rose again Friday as sentiment was boosted by Wall Street hitting a high for 2009 due to another set of better than expected earnings figures.

TOKYO: Up 1.55 per cent. The Nikkei-225 climbed 151.61 points to 9,944.55.

The index is at its highest in more than three weeks.

HONG KONG: Up 0.83 per cent. The Hang Seng Index closed up 165.09 points at 19,982.79.

The market had briefly gone as high as 20,063.39 soon after the opening due to hopes for the US economy.

SYDNEY: Up 0.63 per cent. The S&P/ASX 200 added 25.70 points to reach 4,089.8.

SHANGHAI: Up 1.33 per cent. The Shanghai Composite Index, which covers A and B shares, was up 44.11 points to 3,372.60.

Oil refiners led the gains due to a rally in crude prices overnight, dealers said.

TAIPEI: Down 0.11 per cent. The weighted index fell 7.60 points to 6,973.28.

The market opened up 0.94 per cent but investors immediately pocketed profit to take advantage of recent gains, dealers said.

SEOUL: Up 0.40 per cent. The KOSPI gained 6.1 points to 1,502.59.

SINGAPORE: Up 1.95 per cent. The blue-chip Straits Times Index (STI) closed up 48.53 points at 2,533.43.

DBS gained 22 cents to 12.60, Oversea-Chinese Banking Corporation rose 16 cents to 7.30 and United Overseas Bank climbed 18 cents to 16.24.

JAKARTA: Up 1.15 per cent. The Jakarta Composite Index gained 24.94 points to 2,185.65.

Telkom climbed 3.6 per cent to 8,550 rupiah, while Bank Rakyat Indonesia jumped 3.0 per cent to 6,900.

KUALA LUMPUR: Up 0.32 per cent. The Kuala Lumpur Composite Index gained 3.73 points to 1,155.88.

BANGKOK: Up 0.33 per cent. The Stock Exchange of Thailand rose 2.05 points to close at 614.24.

MANILA: Up 2.47 per cent. The composite index was up 64.47 points to close at 2,676.47.

WELLINGTON: Up 1.46 per cent. The NZX-50 rose 42.54 points to 2,961.17.