Japan's Nikkei-225 Index closed 1.1 per cent higher, while South Korea's Composite Index jumped 1.39 per cent and Singapore's Straits Times Index gained 1.36 per cent.

In the mainland, the Shanghai Composite Index rose 1.56 per cent and the Shenzhen Composite Index added 1.77 per cent.

The H-share index surged 1.03 per cent to 9,095.52 points.

China Mobile rose 2.23 per cent to HK$68.65, contributing almost half of the Hang Seng Index's gains.

Traders said turnover was thin at HK$35.01 billion, compared with Wednesday's HK$51.64 billion, suggesting that investors still remained cautious.

The regional rebound came after US stocks remained firm on Wednesday amid waning concerns over the country's sub-prime lending crisis.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average rebounded 0.48 per cent while the Nasdaq Composite Index advanced 0.9 per cent.

'It's just a technical rebound after the sharp fall on Wednesday,' said Kenny Tang Sing-hing, an associate director at Tung Tai Securities. 'The worry over the US sub-prime loan problem may be overdone as sub-prime mortgages account for a small fraction of the total US home loan market.'

Lehman Brothers Holdings, the second-largest US underwriter of mortgage-backed bonds, said rising home loan delinquencies would not shave its earnings and risks were well-contained.

Credit Suisse also showed limited concern. 'The key to whether or not fears of an economic recession and a far more severe correction in equity markets materialise rests on the shape of the labour market and the corporate sector,' it said in a research report on Wednesday. 'We are more optimistic.'

In anticipation that the US Federal Reserve may cut interest rates to contain the mortgage turmoil, the US dollar fell against the yen, trading at about 117.25 yen from 117.40 yen on Wednesday.