Asia: Stocks mostly higher following ECB stimulus hope

Outside of profit-taking in China, the majority of Asian stocks were up overnight, helped by speculation that the European Central Bank would introduce full-blown quantitative easing to address deflation.

The Nikkei 225 was higher 1.67% and Hong Kong's Hang Seng was up 0.65%, driven by a rebound in oil prices and the0 weak yen.

Brent crude futures rose 0.4% to $51.38 per barrel after hitting a record-low of $49.66 this week.

Hong Kong stocks jumped after news that Standard Chartered bank would shut its equities business and cut 200 jobs in an effort to cut costs and boost profits.

However, China's Shanghai Index was down 2.39%, the biggest fall since 23 December, after investors took profits.

Bank of America and HSBC Holdings were the most affected stocks in the Chinese market, fueling concerns that the benchmark index's rally to a five-year was exceeded.