Asia Stocks Close With Big Gains

Updated from 1:40 a.m. EDT

Asia stocks closed higher Friday as top U.S. officials said they plan to work through the weekend on a fix for the bank crisis affecting U.S. and world financial markets.

In a statement Thursday, Treasury spokeswoman Brookly McLaughlin said Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson, Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke and congressional leaders discussed a "comprehensive approach to address the illiquid assets on bank balance sheets that are at the underlying source of the current stresses in our financial institutions and markets."

Japan's Nikkei 225 stock average rose 431.56 points, or 3.8%, to close at 11,920.86. The Hang Seng index in Hong Kong surged rose 9.6%, while China's Shanghai composite index closed 9.5% to the upside.

In London, the FTSE 100 index surged 324.30 points, or 6.7%, to 5,204.30, while the DAX index in Germany rose 224.12 points, or 3.8%.

Futures on the S&P 500 in the U.S. were 32.20 points higher to 1235.40, and were 25.91 points above fair value. Nasdaq futures rose 31.75 points to 1740.25, and were 31.18 points above fair value.

Stocks in New York closed higher Thursday on the late-day reports that the government may jump in to take on many of the securities at the core of the credit crisis.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average shot up 410.03 points, or 3.9%, to 11,019.69, and the S&P 500 rose 49.93 points, or 4.3%, at 1206.32. The Nasdaq climbed 100.25 points to 2199.10.