Asia stocks extend gains on proposed US bailout

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In Japan, the Nikkei 225 index was 2 percent higher at 12,157.64 points by midday, while Hong Kong's Hang Seng index added 1.4 percent.

Australia's S&P/ASX 200 jumped 4.3 percent, buoyed by new rules banning all short selling following similar actions by regulators in the U.S. and Britain.

Global markets had rallied Friday on news Washington was likely to announce a bailout plan, calming investors worried that losses from bad bets on mortgages could bring about the collapse of more companies, straining an already weakened financial system and global economy.

As details of the plan took shape over the weekend, the Bush administration continued to lobby lawmakers Sunday for authority to use $700 billion to buy up a mountain of bad debt at the heart of the crisis.

While the proposed bailout lifted sentiment for the time being, there were still a number of uncertainties about the plan and the general health of financial firms that could further unsettle markets in the coming days, an analyst said.

"This should stem the bleeding, but the patient is still very fragile," said Thomas Lam, a senior economist at the United Overseas Bank in Singapore. "The list of uncertainties is pretty long."

In mainland China, stocks gained on strong buying of financial shares after the government announced several moves to support the market, including plans to buy shares in major state-owned banks.

The Shanghai Index rose 6.4 percent by midday Monday. It had surged 9.5 percent on Friday its biggest one-day percentage gain ever. Several major banks have jumped by the 10 percent daily limit, including Industrial & Commercial Bank of China, Bank of China and Construction Bank of China.

The advances came after an another extraordinary rally on Wall Street on Friday. The Dow Jones industrials soared about 370 points, or 3.35 percent, to 11,388.44, giving the index a gain of about 780 points over two days.

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