Japan's Nikkei market rose on Friday, recovering from a one-month low as a global bond selloff paused, while Nintendo Co soared after
forecasting strong profits for this fiscal year.
In Tokyo, the Nikkei 225 index regained 87.20 points, or 0.5%, to end the week at 19,379.19
In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng Index gathered 287.37 points, or 1.1%, to 27,577.34, finally ending a six-session losing streak.
Nintendo jumped 7.2% after forecasting its operating profit would double to 50 billion yen ($416.9 million U.S.) in the fiscal year through March 2016.
Alibaba's two Hong Kong-listed units -- Alibaba Health Information Technology Ltd. and movie production firm Alibaba Pictures Group Ltd. -- surged 5.7% and 3.8%, respectively on their parent's earnings news.
CHINA
China stocks rebounded on Friday, stemming a three-day selloff that led a key share index to its worst weekly decline in nearly five years amid fears of regulatory crackdown on speculators.
The Shanghai CSI 300 recovered 88.32 points, or 2%, to 4,558.40, but posted a weekly decline of 4%, the biggest in one and a half years.
The poor performance was triggered by signs of tighter regulatory scrutiny over margin lending, which has helped fuel a near doubling in China's stock market over the past year despite a flagging economy.
Data on Friday showed that China's exports unexpectedly fell 6.4%in April from a year earlier, while imports tumbled by a deeper-than-forecast 16.2%.
Chinese online major Tencent Holdings Ltd. climbed 2.1% after its major rival Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. surged 7.5% in New York overnight on better-than-expected earnings results for the first quarter.
In other markets
In Korea, the Kospi index fell 5.48 points, or 0.3%, to 2,085.52
In Taiwan, the Taiex lost 12.11 points, or 0.1%, to 9,692
In Singapore, the Straits Times index added 19.23 points, or 0.6%, to 3,452.01
In New Zealand, the NZX 50 regained six points, or 0.1%, to 5,735.36
In Australia, the S&P/ASX 200 subtracted 11.13 points, or 0.2%, to 5,634.56
