TOKYO, Jan 31: Asian bourses powered up on Thursday in line with a resurgent Wall Street after the Federal Reserve signalled a US economic recovery is on the way.

The Fed’s decision Wednesday not to cut rates for the first time since its December 2000 meeting was taken as a sign that the world’s biggest economy is now on the mend.

That hope was bolstered by new figures showing the US economy grew by 0.2 per cent in the three months to December, confounding pessimistic analysts who had expected a downturn.

Tokyo shares followed their New York counterparts higher, but Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi’s surprise decision to sack his foreign minister this week put a brake on advances, dealers said.

The Tokyo Stock Exchange’s Nikkei-225 index closed up 78.32 points, or 0.79 per cent, at 9,997.80 after briefly breaking above the 10,000 point level to peak at 10,012.15.

The Topix index closed up 7.02 points at 971.77. Decliners led gainers 759 to 585, while 136 stocks were unchanged. Volume was estimated at a thin 660 million shares.

HONG KONG: Hong Kong share prices closed 0.3 per cent lower as late profit-taking erased morning gains prompted by renewed optimism over a US economic recovery, dealers said.