SYDNEY, NSW, Australia - Stocks in Asia rose across the board on Thursday, in line with the global trend, following comments by U.S. Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell.

"Powell said it will take three years for them to achieve its inflation target, essentially reaffirming the Fed will not raise interest rates until 2023," Norihiro Fujito, chief investment strategist at Mitsubishi UFJ Morgan Stanley Securities told Reuters Thomson Thursday.

"A huge amount of cash investors have to work is flowing into the stock market, and that is more than offsetting any negative aspects of higher bond yields."

"Powell's comments have given a big impact on the Japanese stock market as well," Takatoshi Itoshima, strategist at Pictet Asset Management told Reuters Thomson Thursday.

"And we can say even if the market falls one day, it can rebound easily the next day. That's how strong the fundamental is."

In Tokyo, the Nikkei 225 jumped 496.57 points or 1.67 percent to 30,168.27.

The Australian All Ordinaries gained 56.30 points or 0.80 points to 7,105.70.

In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng surged 355.93 points or 1.20 percent to close at 30,074.17.

China's Shanghai Composite advanced 20.97 points or 0.59 percent to 3,585.05.

The U.S. dollar was mixed. It fell against the euro to 1.2178. The British pound strengthened to 1.4162. The Japanese yen weakened to 105.89. The Swiss franc was softer at 0.9058.

The Canadian dollar rose to 1.2503. The Australian dollar continued higher to 0.7973. The New Zealand dollar was off earlier highs but well bid at 0.7434.

Overnight on Wall Street, the Dow Jones added 424.51 points or 1.35 percent to 31,961.86.

The Standard and Poor's 500 climbed 44.06 points or 1.14 percent to 3,925.43.

The Nasdaq Composite advanced 132.77 points or 0.99 percent to 13,597.97.