Key Asian markets end higher today

Key Asian markets ended higher, today, taking a positive lead from US markets after a set of strong US corporate earnings. So Japan's Nikkei-225 index jumped 1.8 per cent; Hong Kong's Hang Seng index gained 1.5 per cent;  China's Shanghai Composite index rose 0.4 per cent; South Korea's Kospi index advanced 0.9 per cent; while Singapore's Straits Times index was up 0.3 per cent. In Europe, markets are headed for their best weekly performance in seven ...