Asian stocks soar after Freddie, Fannie bailouts

Japan's benchmark Nikkei 225 stock index was up more than 430 points, or 3.6 percent, at 12,650.27.

Seoul's Kospi index was up 4.4 percent, Singapore's Straits Times Index jumped 3.6 percent, and Hong Kong's Hang Seng index surged 4.6 percent.

The U.S. Treasury's decision Sunday to place the two companies, which own or guarantee about half of U.S. mortgage debt, into a conservatorship removes a big cloud that had been weighing on global markets.

The news injected life into recently listless Japanese banks, with Mizuho Financial Group and Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group both up more than 11 percent in trading Monday morning.

Nomura Holdings, Inc. jumped 9.1 percent following weekend reports that Japan's largest brokerage group is considering buying a stake in U.S. investment bank Lehman Brothers. Nomura has funds exceeding $1.87 billion for investment in U.S. and European financial institutions and is considering Lehman as one of its investment candidates, Nomura President Kenichi Watanabe was quoted as saying by the Japanese newspaper Yomiuri.

Monday's gains follow a dismal trading session Friday when concerns about the U.S. economy and its impact on global growth sent Asian stocks across the region plunging.

In currency trading, the dollar was up at 108.45 yen Monday morning in Asia, up from 107.72 yen late Friday.