HONG KONG, Nov 14 Stocks in Asia rebounded Friday on the back of a rally on Wall Street and as traders stepped in to pick up bargains following three days of heavy selling amid fears for the global economy.

Markets followed the lead from Wall Street, which soared overnight despite a raft of data highlighting further problems with the world`s biggest economy.

Trade was light as dealers looked to Washington where they hoped a summit of leaders of the 20 leading economies would come up with concrete action to find a way out of the worst financial crisis since the 1930s.

Most bourses opened sharply higher on the back of the New York -- which was up 6.67 per cent overnight -- but eased back as recession fears set back in.

Tokyo finished 2.72 per cent higher, while Hong Kong was up 2.4 per cent and Sydney added 1.4 per cent.

The buying followed three straight days of losses in the region.

The rally is just driven by bargain hunting after the sharp dips, said Kazuhiro Takahashi, equity trading information chief at Daiwa Securities SMBC.

TOKYO Japanese share prices gained 2.72 per cent.

The Tokyo Stock Exchange`s benchmark climbed 223.75 points to finish at 8,462.39 after jumping more than five per cent in early trade.

The broader Topix index of all first-section shares rose 9.38 points or 1.12 per cent to 846.91.

Chip-testing equipment maker Advantest jumped 9.1 per cent to 1,278 yen and disk-maker TDK rose 7.3 per cent to 3,250 yen.

Kubota, Japan`s top agricultural machinery maker, gained 6.4 per cent to 551 yen.

HONG KONG Hong Kong share prices closed 2.4 per cent higher.

The benchmark Hang Seng Index closed up 321.31 points at 13,542.66. Despite Friday`s gain, the index was still down 4.9 per cent on the week.

Turnover for the day was light at 44.53 billion Hong Kong dollars (5.71 billion US).

SYDNEY Australian shares closed up 1.4 per cent.

The benchmark S&P/ASX200 rose 52.3 points to 3,749.6, while the broader All Ordinaries gained 55 points to 3,727.4.

A total of 1.14 billion shares valued at $3.63 billion (US$2.4 billion) was traded.

BHP Billiton gained 5.6 per cent to 26.40, while Rio Tinto added 4.35 per cent to 72.00.Oil Search was up 7.37 per cent to 5.10 and Santos rose 4.25 per cent to 13.50. ANZ lost 1.92 per cent to 13.78 and Commonwealth Bank fell 2.73 per cent to 32.10.

St George shares lost 3.33 per cent to 23.20 after its shareholders Thursday approved Westpac`s merger proposal.

SINGAPORE Singapore shares closed flat.

The blue-chip Straits Times Index ended up 3.67 points, or 0.21 per cent, at 1,759.14 on volume of 968.43 million shares worth 811.22 million Singapore dollars (535 million US).

DBS fell four cents to 10.34, while United Overseas Bank was up two cents to 12.12 and Oversea-Chinese Banking Corp added six cents to 4.9.

CapitaLand climbed two cents to 2.72.

Singapore Telecom eased two cents to 2.40, while Singapore Airlines closed 10 cents higher at 11.14.

KUALA LUMPUR Malaysian share prices closed flat.

The Kuala Lumpur Composite Index was up 1.06 points or 0.12 per cent to closed at 881.65.

Gaming company Genting lost 1.77 per cent at 4.44 ringgit and top bank Maybank gained 0.95 per cent at 5.20. Telekom Malaysia rose 2.89 per cent at 2.85 ringgit while Tenaga lost 0.81 per cent at 6.15.

JAKARTA Indonesian shares ended up 0.4 per cent.

The Jakarta Composite Index rose 4.67 points to 1,264.38.

Bumi shed 1.7 per cent to 1,160 rupiah after reaching an earlier high of 1,300 rupiah.Coal miner Bukit Asam rose 7.7 per cent to 6,300 rupiah, while Telkom gained 1.8 per cent to 5,800 rupiah.

Corp. saw its A shares rise by 1.07 per cent to 47 pesos while its B shares dropped 2.08 per cent to 47 pesos.

WELLINGTON New Zealand share prices closed 1.39 per cent higher.

The benchmark NZX-50 index rose 38.05 points to close at 2,767.67.

New Zealand Oil & Gas rose two cents to $1.20 and fishing company Sanford was up five cents at 5.65.

MUMBAI Indian shares fell 1.58 per cent.

The benchmark 30-share Sensex fell 150.91 points to 9,385.42, at a near three-year low. Indian markets had been closed on Thursday for a public holiday.—AFP