Most Asian markets rose Friday as bargain buyers accumulated beaten-down stocks ahead of the weekend, taking a positive view on the rebound in commodity prices despite another day of losses on Wall Street.
In Japan, the Nikkei 225 index gained 96.41 points, or 0.7%, to 13,316.48
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index screamed higher 501.05 points, or 2.3%, to 22,013.57
The Shanghai Composite rose 1.7% this week, followed by a 1.4% gain for the Taiex. On the downside, the Hang Seng Index slipped 0.3%, the Kospi lost 0.9% and the S&P/ASX 200 shed 1.6%, while Japan’s Nikkei shed 1.3%, snapping a three-week rally.
The Hong Kong-listed shares of Haitong Securities rose 5.1%, Citic Securities soared 7%, and Jiangxi Copper added 3.2%.
Shares of Lenovo Group Ltd surged 9.5% following reports that the Hong-Kong listed computer maker was in talks to buy International Business Machines Corp.’s servers business.
Shares of TSMC jumped 6.6% in Taipei trading after the company issued an upbeat guidance for the second quarter and raised its capital expenditure plan for this year.
The resource sector was buoyed after a generally higher finish for commodities overnight, providing some relief to stocks that had been beaten down earlier in the week.
In Sydney, mining giants BHP Billiton Ltd. and Rio Tinto Ltd. climbed 2.5% and 4.3%, respectively.
Korea Zinc Co. rallied 6.4% in Seoul, and Pacific Metals Co. rose 1.1% in Tokyo.
Shares of Sharp Corp. rose 4.2% after the Nikkei business daily reported the company will supply Samsung Electronics Co. with energy-saving liquid-crystal-display or LCD panels for notebook computers.
CHINA
Mainland Chinese shares clinched gains across most sectors and were on track for a weekly advance, signaling the market had overcome the hit to sentiment from a disappointing set of data reported on Monday, including first-quarter economic growth.
The Shanghai CSI 300 picked up 68.98 points, or 2.8%, to 2,533.83
Brokerage firms and commodity shares led the advance, with Haitong Securities Co. rising 4.4%, Citic Securities Co. gaining 5.5%, and Jiangxi Copper Co. adding 2.5%.
In Shenzhen, shares of Yunnan Tin Co. climbed 3.7%, and Changjiang Securities Co. advanced 3.4%.
In other markets;
In Korea, the Kospi Index recovered 6.69 points, or 0.4%, to 1,906.75
In Taiwan, the Taiex Index spiked 139.45 points, or 1.8%, to 7,930.80
The Singapore Straits Times Index sifted off 2.32 points, or 0.1%, to 3,294.05
In New Zealand, the NZX 50 gained 2.40 points, or 0.1%, to 4,444.50
Australia’s ASX 200 put on 7.50 points, or 0.2%, to 4,931.91
