Asian markets end mostly higher on Thursday

Asian equity markets ended mostly higher on Thursday on surge in oil prices and easing concerns about an April US interest rate increase following cautious comments by policy makers in the US Federal Reserve minutes. Japanese stocks edged up, snapping a seven-day losing streak as buying in defensive stocks offset weakness in exporters which lost ground on the yen's strength. The yen held at an 18-month high against the dollar after the Fed's March meeting minutes confirmed the dovish bias of US policymakers. However, China stocks ended lower as investors awaited a slew of Chinese economic data and stayed cautious on signs of increasing default risks in the country's corporate bond market.