Asian stocks mostly rose Friday as investors pushed up commodity-related firms, while shares in Tokyo found gains restrained after the Bank of Japan stopped short of announcing fresh monetary easing.
The Nikkei 225 Index gained 38.71 points, or 0.4%, to 8,863.30
In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng Index leaped 104.43 points, or 0.5%, to 21,012.38
Mainland Chinese markets remained closed for the Golden Week holidays.
The S&P/ASX 200 was the best performer among major benchmarks, rising 2.5% this week, while the Hang Seng Index added 0.8%. Japanese, South Korean and Taiwanese markets ended the week with modest losses.
While most economists had been expecting the Japanese central bank to hold its policy steady after it last month expanded its asset purchases, there had been some speculation this week that the central bank would introduce new easing measures — expectations that led to some pressure on the yen and gains for exporters.
Several exporters declined in Tokyo amid the yen’s strength, with Nikon Corp. dropping 4.8% and Sharp Corp. losing 2.8%.
Automobile firms also lost ground on concern about the impact on their China sales and operations. Toyota Motor Corp. declined 1.6% and Nissan Motor Co. shed 1.5%.
Retail firms were among notable gainers, with apparel company Fast Retailing Co. climbing 1.8%.
Ryohin Keikaku Co. rallied 4.3% after a Nikkei news report that the firm expects to post a 21% increase in fiscal-year pretax profit, which would exceed its previous forecast.
But Seven & I Holdings Co. fell 4.2% after posting a drop in Q2 net profit and lowering its full-year targets.
Resource sector shares did well across the region, with energy shares in particular rising after crude-oil prices jumped back above the $91-U.S.-a-barrel level.
PetroChina Co. spiked 1.2% in Hong Kong, Inpex Corp. sprang higher by 1.6% in Tokyo, and Santos Ltd. gained 0.9% in Sydney.
An advance for metal prices in New York also sent other resource firms higher. Gold miner Newcrest Mining Ltd. rose 3.1% in Sydney and Sumitomo Metal Mining Co. jumped 4.9% in Tokyo.
In Hong Kong, Aluminium Corp. of China Ltd. advanced 3.1%, Citic Pacific Ltd. jumped 5.2% and Zijin Mining Group Co. rose 2.9%.
In other markets
The Singapore Straits Times Index gathered 21.23 points, or 0.7%, to 3,107.87
Korea’s Kospi index added 2.49 points, or 0.1%, to 1,995.17
Taiwan’s Taiex Index strengthened 8.31 points, or 0.1%, to 7,690.65
New Zealand’s NZX index tacked on 22.86 points, or 0.6%, to 3,904.85
Australia’s ASX Index picked up 42.03 points, or 0.9%, to 4,494.38
