Major Asian stock markets stuck mostly to narrow ranges Friday, with investors cautious ahead of this weekend’s crucial meetings to find a solution to Europe’s debt crisis.
In Tokyo, the Nikkei 225 Index subtracted 3.26 points to end the week at 8,678.89
In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng Index recovered 42.62 points, or 0.2%, to 18,025.70
Asian stocks had suffered on Thursday in the run-up to this weekend’s scheduled summit to hammer out details for fresh European bailout funds, as a barrage of conflicting headlines pointed to discord between key parties and delays in announcing a plan.
Later Thursday, French President Nicolas Sarkozy and German Chancellor Angela Merkel said that they would "provide a comprehensive and ambitious response to the current crisis in the euro area."
The measures are slated to be discussed Sunday and adopted at a second summit meeting no later than Wednesday, according to a statement released by both parties.
HSBC economists commented: “Many issues remain unresolved -- how private-sector creditors will share Greece’s pain, what measures will be politically acceptable for the euro zone’s 17 very different countries, and what role should be played by both the European Central Bank and the European Financial Stability Facility -- the euro-zone bailout fund.”
Hong Kong-listed bank shares traded broadly higher Friday, as Industrial & Commercial Bank of China Ltd. and Bank of Communications Co. each rose 2%, and China Citic Bank Corp. rose 2.6%.
China said late Thursday that it would allow four of its local governments to begin issuing their own debt, with Nomura analysts saying Friday that they "see this as positive for the China banking sector."
The move -- which could be expanded to include more provinces and municipalities -- should help alleviate pressure on local governments to service their debt and reduce the immediate risk of a significant rise in non-performing loans, they said.
Also in Hong Kong, Citic Resources Holdings Ltd. jumped 24.1% after it accepted a bid from Peabody Energy Corp. and ArcelorMittal for its stake in Australia’s Macarthur Coal Ltd. Macarthur Coal ended 0.9% higher.
South Korean construction firms helped the Kospi outperform its regional peers, with Hyundai Engineering & Construction Co. up 6.6%, Daewoo Engineering & Construction Co. up 7.8%, and Daelim Industrial Co. higher by 7.5%.
Investors could be hoping that the death of Libyan dictator Col. Moammar Gadhafi and the end to fighting in the country will lead to the resumption of suspended projects. Libya is the third-largest market for Korean construction firms, which are involved in 47 projects valued at more than $10 billion U.S., according to Daiwa Securities.
Several South Korean technology stocks also gained strongly into the end of the week. LG Electronics Inc. traded up 7.6%, and Hynix Semiconductor Inc. rallied 10.2%. According to an iSuppli report, the new Apple Inc. iPhone 4S makes use of Hynix chips, the first such Hynix contribution to an iPhone.
Japanese tech shares also did generally well Friday, with NEC Corp. advancing 2.9%, Toshiba Corp. rising 3%, and Fujitsu Ltd. up 1.8%.
In other markets;
Shanghai’s CSI 300 index slipped 12.66 points, or 0.5%, to 2,507.88
Taiwan’s Taiex Index gained 10.19 points, or 0.1%, to 7,254.51
Korea’s Kospi Index picked up 33.29 points, or 1.8%, to 1,838.38
Singapore’s Straits Times Index tacked on 18.40 points, or 0.7%, to 2,712.41
New Zealand’s NZX 50 Index erased 8.61 points, or 0.3%, to 3,281.16
Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 Index subtracted three points to 4,141.90
