Asian markets climbed in early Thursday trading, following a surge on Wall Street that saw the Dow again top the 25,000 mark.

Japanese automakers were among the biggest gainers as the Nikkei NIK, +0.80%^[1]   climbed 0.9% and the dollar-yen hit fresh session highs of ¥110.21 soon after the opening bell. Toyota 7203, +1.45%^[2]   was up 1.8%, Nissan 7201, +1.10%^[3]   gained 1.2% and Honda 7267, +0.91%^[4]   added 1%

Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index HSI, +0.54%^[5]   was looking for its first six-day winning streak since last month. Geely 0175, +2.58%^[6]   popped 3.2% following its late-Wednesday release of a 61% May sales jump. Internet giant Tencent 0700, +0.42%^[7]   rose a further 1%, along with smartphone-parts firms AAC 2018, -0.53%^[8]  .

Chinese stocks joined the rest of the region in starting higher, though gains were slight. The Shanghai Composite SHCOMP, +0.06%^[9]   was up 0.3% and had risen three-straight days coming into Thursday’s trading, climbing a combined 1.3%.

Australian stocks XJO, +0.65%^[10]   were up, although poultry producer Inghams ING, -8.44%^[11]   plunged after the announcement that its CEO was stepping down. South Korea’s Kospi ...