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." ...