Asia opens on a high

U.S.-led forces are driving towards Iraq's capital Baghdad. Story Tools

TOKYO, Japan -- Japanese stocks have opened higher Thursday as investors speculate that the U.S.-led drive on Baghdad means the war in Iraq may soon be over.

Other Asian markets are also up, with strong gains in South Korea, Taiwan, Singapore and Australia.

In Tokyo, the Nikkei 225 average is about 1 percent higher to 8147.41 in early trade. The broader Topix index is 0.74 percent higher at 803.47.

The market's biggest stock, mobile phone company NTT DoCoMo, is 2.17 percent higher at 235,000 yen. Automakers Toyota, Nissan and Honda are all stronger, as is big exporter Sony, up 1.45 percent to 4210 yen.

Tech-related issues are also firmer, with Toshiba up more than 3 percent and NEC 2 percent higher.

But Japan's big banks are continuing to decline. Mizuho Financial Group, the world's biggest bank by assets, is off 6 percent to 76,700 yen after earlier sinking to a record low of 76,000 yen.

SMFG is down 3.74 percent to 180,000 yen and UFJ is down 2.8 percent to 104,000 yen.

The U.S. dollar is up slightly, buying 118.94 yen in early Tokyo trade.

The gains in Asia come after a strong performance on Wall Street Wednesday, where shares moved higher on optimism that the war in Iraq might end sooner than expected.

The Dow Jones industrial average put on 2.7 percent to close at 8,285.06, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq composite rose 3.6 percent to 1396.72. (Full story)

In South Korea, Seoul's Kospi index is 1.37 percent higher at 550.36, with market heavweight Samsung Electronics putting on 1.25 percent to 282,500 won and big exporter Hyundai Motor up 2.6 percent to 23,500 won.

In Australia, the benchmark S&P/ASX200 is 1.25 percent higher at 2918.2, driven up by a 4 percent gain for the market's biggest stock, media group News Corp.

News, which is expected to make a bid for U.S. satellite broadcaster DirecTV, is at A$11.48. Big resources group BHP Billiton is 2.5 percent higher at A$9.43.

Singapore's Straits Times index is up 1.1 percent in early trade, while Taiwan's Taiex is 1.7 percent higher to 4386.18.

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