DAVID HAFFENREFFER, CNN ANCHOR: Well, Tokyo's stocks jumped more than three percent overnight.</s>DEBORAH MARCHINI, CNN ANCHOR: Dalton Tanonaka sums up the day in Asia from Hong Kong. Hello.</s>DALTON TANONAKA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hello, Deborah. Good morning, David. Major Asian markets did kick off the week with solid gains, tech and old-economy shares lifting Tokyo's Nikkei to a 3.6 percent gain. It closed above the 15,000 point support level. Tech giant Toshiba jumping nearly four percent after it confirmed late last week that it is in talks with Germany's Siemens to produce 3G cell phones. But troubled consumer electronics firm Akai buckled under a $434 million debt burden, filing for court protection. Its stock price plummeting nearly 89 percent to one yen a share. Hong Kong's Hang Seng tacked on a half percent, but market analysts say most traders were awaiting the results of the U.S. presidential elections. One Hang Seng mover was Richard Li's Pacific Century CyberWorks. The Internet and telecom stock ending up a half percent, and that is a lot after recent losses. It secured a $4.7 billion loan, a deal crucial to trimming its $12 billion worth of debt. And politics fueled Manila's huge 16 1/2 percent surge, that market's biggest one-day point and percentage gain ever. Philippine traders say there is a growing perception that President Joseph Estrada may be stepping down soon, and that triggered heavy overseas buying as international investors seemed optimistic that the political crisis rocking that country may soon be over. President Estrada may be facing impeachment after allegedly taking kickbacks from gambling lords. And that's the trading and market day here in Asia. Back to you, Deborah and David, in New York.</s>HAFFENREFFER: All right, thank you very much, Dalton.
Major Asian Markets Kick Off Week with Solid Gains