Asian markets higher

Asian share markets rallied on Thursday after US stocks enjoyed their strongest session this year when the Federal Reserve sounded upbeat on the economy and promised to be patient in removing policy stimulus. The Dow up 1.69 per cent, the S&P 500 gained 2.04 per cent and the Nasdaq 2.12 per cent. In Asia, Japan's Nikkei jumped 2.4 per cent, while stocks in Australia climbed 1.8 per cent. MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan lagged with a rise of 0.2 per cent. China stocks slipped on Thursday. The CSI300 index of leading Shanghai and Shenzhen listings fell 0.4 per cent, to 3,347.51 points at the end of the morning. The Shanghai Composite Index lost 0.3 per cent, to 3,051.11 points. Hong Kong's Hang Seng index added 1.3 per cent, to 22,887.7 points. The Hong Kong China Enterprises Index gained 1.3 per cent, to 11,413.39, according to Reuters.