Hong Kong stocks extended a five-day winning streak Friday, as investors looked ahead to the launch of the Hong Kong–Shanghai Stock Connect program on Monday.
In Japan, the Nikkei 225 added 98.04 points, or 0.6%, to end the day and the week at 17,490.83, marked a fourth straight day of gains, with the yen falling against the U.S. dollar to ¥116.30 compared with ¥116.07 a day earlier.
In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng index grew 67.44 points, or 0.3%, to 24,087.38, rising for a fifth day in a row. For the week, the index posted a 2.3% gain.
Among index heavyweights, Chinese online major Tencent Holdings Ltd. climbed 1.9%, and telecoms giant China Mobile Ltd. advanced 1.5%.
However, brokerage firms pulled back after recent gains. China Galaxy Securities Co. slid 5.5%, and Haitong Securities Co. declined 1.5%.
Meanwhile, with crude-oil prices hitting four-year lows overnight, energy plays fell, as Asia’s largest oil refiner by capacity China Petroleum & Chemical Corp., or Sinopec , skidded 1.9%. China’s biggest oil and gas producer PetroChina Co. lost 1.7%, and offshore oil and gas producer Cnooc Ltd. shredded 1%.
Other energy shares also suffered losses, as China Oilfield Services Ltd. tumbled 3%, and national piped-gas operator China Oil & Gas Group Ltd. dropped 0.8%.
In other markets;
Shanghai’s CSI 300 index eked up 1.34 points, or 0.1%, to 2,581.09
Singapore’s Straits Times Index rallied 10.74 points, or 0.3%, to 3,315.67
The Taiex index in Taiwan inched up 2.21 points to 8,982.88
Korea’s Kospi index moved lower 15.37 points, or 0.8%, to 1,945.14
New Zealand’s Exchange 50 ascended 21.25 points, or 0.4%, to 5,484.
Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 improved 11.64 points, or 0.2%, to 5,454.34.
