Japanese stocks jumped Friday to lead most Asian markets higher, with Tokyo Electric Power Co. driving gains on relief that a powerful earthquake overnight hadn’t inflicted much damage and as Fast Retailing Co. rose after lifting its profit outlook.
The Nikkei 225 Index grew 177.15 points, or 1.9%, to end the week at 9,768.08, having dropped about 0.6% at one point in early trading, staged a sharp rebound to finish 1.9% higher at 9,768.08. The jump helped the benchmark end with a weekly gain of 0.6%.
The gains in Tokyo came as the 7.1-magnitude earthquake in Northeastern Japan Thursday night reportedly caused little damage.
Shares of Tokyo Electric Power Co. the operator of the March 11 earthquake-damaged Fukushima nuclear plant, jumped 23.5%.
Fellow utility Tohoku Electric Power Co., which said on Friday that it had found water leaks at its Onagawa nuclear facility and after it was forced to temporarily switch to an emergency diesel generator to power the cooling system at its Aomori nuclear plant in the wake of Thursday’s earthquake, also erased early losses to finish 0.8% higher.
Fast Retailing Co. the operator of the Uniqlo casual clothing chain was another major gainer, rising 7.3% after the company raised its profit outlook for the full business year ending in August, saying a larger-than-expected contribution from its overseas operations will help to offset the negative impact from the March 11 earthquake.
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index gained back 114.27 points, or 0.5%, to 24,396.10
Woodside Petroleum Ltd. and Origin Energy Ltd. each rose 0.7% in Sydney, with Cnooc Ltd climbing 0.2% in Hong Kong
Gold miners also tracked the precious metal’s price higher, with Newcrest Mining Ltd. up 1.4% in Sydney, Shandong Gold-Mining Co. adding 0.7% in Shanghai and Zhaozin Mining Industry Co. gaining 1% in Hong Kong.
In other markets;
Shanghai’s CSI 300 Composite Index tacked on 28.94 points or 0.9%, to 3,353.36
Korea’s Kospi Index crept ahead 5.83 points, or 0.3%, to 2,127.97
Taiwan’s Taiex Index doffed 7.18 points to 8,894.54
Singapore’s Straits Times Index gathered 15.66 points, or 0.5%, to 3,187.31
New Zealand’s NZX 50 subtracted 5.08 points, or 0.2%, to 3,445.27
Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 climbed 32.50 points, or 0.7%, to 4,940.60
