Most Asian markets climbed on Friday to improve their weekly gains, with the resource sector leading in Australia as dovish indications for U.S. interest rates pulled in buyers as trading resumed after a holiday.
Hong Kong stocks rose for a sixth straight trading day on the back of banking and telecommunication shares, while Japanese equities were weighed down by weak earnings reports from Nintendo Co. and NEC Corp.
In Japan, the Nikkei 225 Index dipped 8.25 points, or 0.1%, to 8,841.22
In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng Index gained 62.53 points, or 0.3%, to 20,501.70.
The day’s performance allowed the stock benchmarks in Tokyo, Seoul, Sydney and Hong Kong to end the week with a net gain of 0.9%, 0.8%, 1.2% and 2%, respectively.
Several resource-sector shares advanced in the region after the Fed’s decision weakened the U.S. dollar and spurred commodity prices.
Shares of Newcrest Mining Ltd. rose 3.8% and Rio Tinto Ltd. gained 2.1% in Sydney.
Inpex Corp. added 2.9% and Sumitomo Metal Mining Co. advanced 2.5% in Tokyo, Korea Zinc Co. rose 0.7%, and in Hong Kong, Zhaojin Mining Industry Co. climbed 1.2%.
In Tokyo, NEC tumbled 7.1% after issuing a poor fiscal-year earnings outlook and Nintendo sank 4.9% after weak results.
Memory chip maker Elpida Memory Inc. also skidded 7.1% after the Nikkei reported that the firm is expected to post a ¥90 billion ($1.17 billion U.S.) operating loss in the nine months to the end of December.
In Hong Kong, property developers declined after recent gains, with China Overseas Land & Investment Ltd. dropping 3.4% and Cheung Kong Holdings Ltd. declining 2.1%.
But banks extended gains amid expectations 2012 will be a better year for equity markets than 2011, while telecommunication shares climbed after their under-performance so far this month.
HSBC Holdings PLC and China Mobile Ltd., both heavyweight stocks, rose 0.9% and 1.9%, respectively.
Samsung Electronics Co. rose 1.1% in Seoul after its fourth-quarter net profit rose 17% to four trillion Korean won ($3.57 billion U.S.), although the result fell short of analysts expectations.
Shares of Hyundai Motor Co. fell 3.5%, however, after its fourth-quarter results missed some analyst estimates
In other markets;
Markets in Shanghai and Taiwan had the day off
Korea’s Kospi Index edged up 7.65 points, or 0.4%, to 1,964.83
Singapore’s Straits Times Index took on 21.83 points, or 0.8%, to 2,916.26
New Zealand’s NZX 50 Index tacked on 12.97 points, or 0.4%, to 3,294.64
Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 Index picked up 17.03 points, or 0.4%, to 4,288.37
