SYDNEY, NSW, Australia - It was all smiles on Asian stock markets on Wednesday as the major indices rocketed higher.

The biggest winner was the Hang Seng index in Hong Kong which rallied 633.23 points or 2.67 percent to 24,372.33.

The Nikkei 225 in Japan jumped 543.16 points or 1.92 percent, to close Wednesday at 28,765.66.

The Australian All Ordinaries climbed 51.50 points or 0.67 percent to 7,762.20.

China's Shanghai Composite gained 29.99 points or 0.84 percent to 3,597.43.

The foreign exchange market was quiet. The euro softened slightly to 1.1359. The British pound inched down to 1.3629. The Japanese yen weakened to 115.38. The Swiss franc was little changed at 0.9235.

The Canadian dollar was steady at 1.2571. The Australian dollar was unmoved at 0.7209, as was the New Zealand dollar at 0.6783.

Overnight on Wall Street, the Nasdaq Composite, reversed earlier losses of more than one percent, to gain 210.62 points, or 1.42 percent, to 15,153.45.

The Standard and Poor's 500 advanced 42.78 points, or 0.92 percent, to close Tuesday at 4,713.07.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average climbed 183.15 points, or 0.51 percent, to 36,252.02.