Asia stocks continue to lift as markets bid higher, Japan's Nikkei 225 vaults over ¥22,800

• Equities in Asia follow-through on Wall Street's gains, climb higher on improved sentiment for Thursday.
• Japan's Nikkei continues to march higher to reclaim 2018's lost ground.

Asia Pacific equities saw gains on Thursday, following Wall Street's lead as broader market sentiment continues to keep traders bidding indexes higher, with global markets spurred on by the European Central Bank (ECB), who pointed to the possibility of their economic stimulus systems beginning to wind down this year. Japan's Nikkei 225 has crossed over the 22,800.00 as Japan markets rally along with the broader Asia markets.

Markets are recovering their confidence as yields on 10-year US Treasuries have bedded back down, steadying at 2.972% for Thursday after a brief spike over the critical 3% level recently sent global market participants scurrying into safe havens.

Australia's ASX index is up 0.57% on the day, while Shanghai has posted moderated gains of 0.06%; Hong Kong's Hang Seng index is fairing better, up 0.55% for Thursday, while the Nikkei 225 sits at 0.87%.

Nikkei 225 levels to watch

Japan's leading equity index is trading just over the 22,800.00 mark, and is making steady progress to making it back to May's high at 23,044.00, the last major resistance blocking the way for the index to challenge 2018's high of 24,186.00, a level not seen since the index's decline in January that saw the Nikkei tumble into a March low of 20,318.00.