Asian stocks rallied Thursday following a surge in U.S. stocks the previous day.

Japan's Nikkei 225 Average rose 1.9 percent to 13,393.93 while the broader Topix index rose 1.4 percent to 1,290.21.

India's Sensex was up 1.7 percent to 16,517.49. The Shanghai Composite index fell 1 percent to 3,258.81.

The Hang Seng Index was up 2.1 percent to 24, 381.37.

Sydney's S&P/ASX 200 rose 1 percent to 5,523.