Asian markets were higher on the last day of February as global political concerns eased.
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Just days after inconclusive elections in Italy sparked a substantial selloff in Asia, there were reassuring signs from Europe overnight Wednesday that helped put trading on a positive note on Thursday. An auction for 10-year Italian bonds, the country's first debt auction since the election, met with strong demand despite yields being at their highest level since October.
In addition, European Central Bank President Mario Draghi said that the central bank would preserve the integrity of the euro zone, a signal that it would continue with its accommodative monetary policy. The comments joined recent comments by U.S. Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke who also reiterated his commitment to loose monetary policy.
Reassurances from central bankers helped inspire gains on the last day of February�a month that has seen the strong rally in Asian stocks lose some momentum. The MSCI All Country Asia index was almost flat for the month up to Wednesday, compared with gains of 6.0% and 5.1% in December and January, respectively.
The rally in Japanese stocks took pause in February, with the Nikkei Stock Average up just 1.0% month-to-Wednesday as the yen's weakening trend moderated. Hong Kong had its worst month since May of last year, with the Hang Seng Index down 4.9% month-to-Wednesday.
On Thursday, the Japanese market made a comeback after two days of substantial declines, with the Nikkei up 2.2%. Local stocks rose as the yen weakened overnight Wednesday and continued to soften in Asian trading: the dollar was last at �92.34 compared with �92.22 late Wednesday in New York.
Exporters, brokerages and real estate stocks gained on Thursday: Honda Motor climbed 3%, Nomura Holdings rose 2.7% and Mitsui Fudosan added 5.5%.
The Japanese government submitted its nomination of Asian Development Bank President Haruhiko Kuroda for the next Bank of Japan governor to parliament on Thursday, with voting by both houses of parliament expected around March 15.
Komatsu jumped 4.3% in Tokyo, after a Nikkei report said that the construction equipment manufacturer is expected to book a consolidated operation profit of more than �300 billion for the fiscal year ending March 2014, with its earnings benefiting from a weaker yen.
There were also a number of high-profile earnings reports in Hong Kong, where the Hang Seng Index was up 1.2%.
Sino Land climbed 2.6% after the developer released a strong set of interim results, with underlying net profit up 80.5% on year in the first half.
Macau casino operator SJM Holdings fell 3.4% after the company announced that net profit for the 2012 fiscal year rose 27% on-year. The stock pulled back on Thursday after gaining 7.5% during the past four sessions, driven by expectations of strong results.
Elsewhere in the region, the Shanghai Composite Index in mainland China was up 0.6%, South Korea's Kospi Composite added 1.0%, and Australia's S&P/ASX 200 rose 1.0%.
Write to Daniel Inman at daniel.inman@wsj.com
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