According to Nikkei, Yonhap and HKET, most Asian equity markets opened higher Thursday, led by Japan, while Hong Kong and mainland China were shut for holidays.

Tokyo's Nikkei 225 extended its advance, opening up 352 points at 67,106 before widening its gains to top 68,000 for the first time in about a month. By 01:15 UTC the index was up more than 1,300 points at 68,064.90, a rise of about 1.96%. The Bank of Japan's September tankan survey showed the large-manufacturer business conditions index improving to plus 24, and firmer U.S. tech shares overnight supported sentiment. Chip-equipment names led, with Tokyo Electron up 3.85%, Advantest up 6.45% and Sony up 0.51% as of 01:40 UTC.

Seoul's KOSPI opened lower, slipping 23.55 points to 6,814.49 at the open before easing further to 6,811.74, down 26.3 points or 0.38%, as of 9:15 a.m. local time, its fourth straight session of declines as chip-heavy stocks came under pressure. Samsung Electronics fell 0.28%, SK hynix eased 0.11% and SK Square dropped 2.81%. The won traded at 1,358.7 per dollar, down 3 won from the previous close. Separately, Reuters reported South Korea's September exports jumped 83.5% year-on-year to a monthly record, while factory growth hit a four-month high.

Taiwan's TAIEX opened in positive territory to start October, rising 21.85 points to 47,961.98 before extending gains to as much as 241 points, retesting the 48,100 level as TSMC, Delta Electronics, ABF-substrate makers, UMC and Wistron advanced. TSMC opened up NT$10 and was up NT$15 at NT$2,495, or 0.60%, as of 01:40 UTC, while Hon Hai added 0.20% to NT$252.

Hong Kong's stock market and mainland China's Shanghai and Shenzhen bourses were closed Thursday for National Day holidays.