HONG KONG, Feb 2: Asian markets rose on Thursday as upbeat manufacturing data from across the globe lifted spirits, while traders were also confident Greece would soon reach a deal with creditors to slash its debt.

With China and India on Wednesday posting strong growth in manufacturing last month, and Europe and the US following suit, analysts said there was some hope that a recovery could be back on track.

Tokyo gained 0.76 per cent, or 67.03 points, to close at 8,876.82, Sydney added 1 per cent, or 42.1 points, to 4,267.8 and Seoul was 1.26 per cent higher, putting on 25.06 points to 1,984.3.

Hong Kong advanced 2 per cent, or 406.08 points, to 20,739.45 and Shanghai climbed 1.96 per cent, or 44.18 points, to 2,312.56.

On Wednesday, China, the world`s top exporter, reported a second month of expansion. The official purchasing managers index (PMI) rose to 50.5 in January from 50.3 in December, after contractingfor the first time in 33 months in November, when the PMI stood at 49.

A reading above 50 indicates the sector is expanding while a reading below 50 suggests a contraction.

New Delhi said its manufacturing sector saw the strongest growth for eight months, with the HSBC PMI rising to 57.5 in January from December`s 54.2.

And while activity continued to shrink in Taiwan and South Korea, the rate was less severe.In Tokyo, trading of 241 companies, including Sony, Hitachi and Mitsubishi Electric, was suspended owing to a system malfunction and did not begin for the day until the normal afternoon session got under way at 0330 GMT.

Taipei rose 1.37 per cent, or 103.25 points, to 7,652.46. China Steel was 0.82 per cent higher at Tw$29.3 while TSMC fell 0.26 per cent to Tw$76.8.

Manila surged 2.26 per cent, or 106.44 points, to 4,822.08.

Bangkok rose 0.49 per cent, or 5.31 points, to 1,091.67. Banpu gained 1.35 per cent to 600 baht, while Siam Cementadded 1.17 per cent to 346 baht.

Singapore shares closed down 0.13 per cent, or 3.72 points, at 2,901.04. Real estate developer CapitaLand was down 0.38 per cent to Sg$2.63 while Singtel gained 0.64 per cent to Sg$3.13.

Indonesian shares rose 1.3 per cent, or 51.93 points to 4,016.9. State owned telecom Telekomunikasi Indonesia rose 2.2 per cent to 6,900 rupiah, while state miner Timah gained 1.6 per cent to 1,900 rupiah.

Kuala Lumpur closed up 1.04 per cent, or 15.8 points, at 1,537.09. Logistics firm MMC Corp climbed 5 per cent to 2.94 ringgit while construction giant Gamuda rose 0.5 per cent to 3.72 ringgit.

Indian shares rose 0.76 per cent, or 131.27 points, to 17,431.85. Bharti Airtel rose 6.88 per cent to 385.95 rupees, while Unitech fell 7.04 per cent to 25.1 rupees.

Wellington gained 0.39 per cent, or 12.85 points, to 3,314.64. Telecom Corp rose 0.23 per cent to NZ$2.16 and Fletcher Building closed down 0.16 per cent at NZ$6.43.-AFP