A relief rally swept across Asian markets and lifted stocks in early trading on Thursday as investors cheered Nvidia's market-topping earnings while the US dollar rose as traders braced for the release of delayed jobs data.

In Hong Kong, the benchmark Hang Seng Index gained 169 points, or 0.65 percent, to open at 25,999 on Thursday.

Across the border, the benchmark Shanghai Composite Index opened up 0.35 percent at 3,960 while the Shenzhen Component Index opened 1.03 percent higher at 13,215 and the ChiNext Index, tracking China's Nasdaq-style board of growth enterprises, was up 1.79 percent at 3,131.

MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan was up 0.6 percent, rebounding from a one-month low, after Nvidia forecast quarterly revenue well above Wall Street estimates on Wednesday.

Its chief executive, Jensen Huang, touted blockbuster demand for its AI chips from giant cloud providers and shrugged off concerns about an AI bubble.

S&P 500 e-mini futures rose 1.1 percent.

Nvidia "delivered yet another master class in AI dominance", said Tony Sycamore, market analyst at IG in Sydney.

Stocks on Wall Street had snapped a four-day losing streak on Wednesday before the earnings release. All three major indexes rebounded from the selloff as the world's most valuable company's earnings report tempered the AI valuation fears that had triggered the rout.

Japan's Nikkei share average jumped back above the key 50,000 mark on Thursday, led higher by technology stocks.

The Nikkei 225 Index jumped 3.5 percent to 50,254, set to snap a four-session loss, if the current momentum persists. The broader Topix was up 2.3 percent. (Reuters/Xinhua)