Stock markets in Asia closed mixed Friday, with investors in Hong Kong stepping back after a busy week of earnings while Japan's benchmark index extended its winning streak as banks and other domestic consumption shares rose.
In Tokyo, the benchmark Nikkei 225 index ended 0.8% higher, rising 61.41 points to 17,480.61 while Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index rose 0.01%, or 2.39 points, to end at 19,692.64.
Mitsubishi UFJ led gains among banks after government data showed nationwide land prices rose for the first time in 16 years. Shares of Mitsubishi UFJ, Japan's biggest bank by assets, rose 1.5%.
Other gainers included Toyota Motor Corp., which rose 0.51% to 7,840 yen ($66.44) and Nippon Oil Corp., which posted a 1.17% to 948 yen ($8.03). Banks also advanced, with Mizuho Financial Group Inc. rising 1.30% to 782,000 yen ($6,627.12).
Elsewhere:
MANILA: Philippine shares closed marginally lower on Friday as traders reaped profits following the market's recent rally. The 30-company Philippine Stock Exchange Index ended down by 8.27 points or 0.26 percent at 3170.05 in moderately heavy volume. The index had jumped 4.6 percent the previous two days.
SEOUL: South Korean shares fell marginally Friday, led by a decline Korea Electric Power Corp. The won rose. The Korea Composite Stock Price Index fell 1.15 points, marginal in percentage terms, to 1,447.38, declining for just the second session in the past eight.
SINGAPORE: Singaporean stocks broke four straight sessions of gains to close lower Friday on some profit taking. The benchmark Straits Times Index retreated 13.69 points, or 0.4 percent, to close at 3205.82.
With files from wire services
