BANGKOK ? Asian stocks rose Wednesday amid growing optimism that European leaders will approve aggressive plans by the end of the week to rescue the region from a debt crisis that has roiled financial markets for months.
Japan's Nikkei 225 rose 0.8 percent to 8,645.72 and South Korea's Kospi added 0.9 percent to 1,918.99. Hong Kong's Hang Seng gained 0.8 percent 19,105.51. Australia's S&P/ASX 200 climbed 0.8 percent to 4,296.80.
On Wall Street, stocks mostly rose Tuesday on a report that European leaders might create a second bailout fund to supplement the one they have already agreed to. The second fund would nearly double the capacity of Europe's financial rescue programs, the Financial Times reported.
The plan involves allowing the existing 440 billion euros bailout fund to continue running when a new 500 billion euros facility comes into force in mid-2012, almost doubling the rescue system's firepower, Stan Shamu of IG Markets wrote in a report. "This latest move might just be the 'bazooka' Europe needs to appease markets."
Asian stocks tumbled Tuesday, hours after Standard & Poor's credit ratings agency warned that it might downgrade 15 of the 17 countries that use the euro ? even Germany, which has a top AAA rating and Europe's strongest economy.
On Tuesday, S&P said it might also cut the AAA rating of Europe's bailout fund. The fund needs that top rating to cheaply raise money, and losing it would mean it would cost billions more to fund bailouts.
On Tuesday, hopes that Europe was finally serious about taming its debt crisis boosted U.S. stocks. The Dow Jones industrial average closed up 0.4 percent at 12,150.13. The Standard & Poor's 500 index closed up 0.1 percent to 1,258.47. The Nasdaq composite average closed down 0.2 percent at 2,649.56.
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