Major Asia-Pacific stock markets closed with big losses Thursday after a steady sell-off in step with a similar disastrous closing overnight on Wall Street. The Asian rout was led by the 225-stock Nikkei index on the Tokyo Stock Exchange.

Japan's Nikkei index indicated a sell off Wednesday, triggering a similar reaction in other major Asian-Pacific markets on concerns of U.S. corporate earnings.

The Australian share market, snapping a three-day losing streak, closed higher Friday with prices up 1.1 percent across the board. The All Ordinaries Index rose 56 points to 5,724 and the ASX 200 jumped 61 points to 5,658.

A selling wave wiped out nearly $31 billion of the Australian share market Wednesday. With investors spooked by the woes of Wall Street, in particular the mammoth quarterly loss by Citigroup, the All Ordinaries Index closed down 2.5 percent to 5,870 and the ASX 200 lost 150 points to 5,809.

The Australian share market ended 2007 in negative territory after a flat day of trading ahead of the New Year holiday. The All Ordinaries Index closed out Monday's shortened session at 6,241 points, with the ASX 200 down 0.1 at 6,3340.