Australian shares climbed to a near two-month high Friday and stocks in Japan resumed their recent gains, after the European Central Bank reiterated its commitment to stimulate growth in the euro-zone.
The Nikkei 225 added 87.90 points, or 0.5%, to 16,880.38, adding 2.8% for the week.
In Japan, stocks have surged more than 7.8% as of last Thursday’s close, a day before the Bank of Japan announced an aggressive second round of quantitative easing.
In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng index dropped 99.07 points, or 0.4%, to 23,550.24, capping a weekly decline of 1.9%, the worst in the past five weeks.
The gains came after ECB President Mario Draghi pledged to stimulate growth in the euro-zone, although his stance was largely expected.
Still, it was enough to offset the impact of a sobering forecast on the Australian economy by the country’s central bank, showing below-average growth. Stocks in Australia led gains in Asia.
The U.S. dollar traded in the mid-¥115 level at the close of trading in Tokyo. The greenback was near a seven-year high of ¥115.52, a level it hit against the yen during the Asia trade Thursday.
In Hong Kong, stocks sank for a fifth consecutive session, ahead of the release of Chinese trade data due for release on Saturday.
Air bag maker Takata Corp. was down 4.5% after it took a ¥2.9 billion ($25.3 million U.S.) hit from new recall-related charges during the latest quarter, widening its projected full-year net loss.
Electronics retailer Yamada Denki was up 2.0% after booking a 2.2-fold increase in its first-half recurring profit, dispelling some pessimism over slack consumer demand following Japan’s April consumption tax hike.
In other markets;
Shanghai’s CSI 300 index faded 3.91 points, or 0.2%, to 2,502.15
Singapore’s Straits Times Index inched down 4.57 points, or 0.1%, to 3,286.39
The Taiex index in Taiwan rebounded 21.60 points, or 0.2%, to 8,912.62
Korea’s Kospi index moved higher 3.39 points, or 0.2%, to 1,939.87
New Zealand’s Exchange 50 advanced 15.38 points, or 0.3%, to 5,418.99
Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 gained 43.02 points, or 0.8%, to 5,549.13
