Asia markets ended modestly higher after a choppy session on Friday, with some energy shares supported as oil prices continued to rise, while recent strength limited sharper gains.
In Japan, the Nikkei 225 Index strengthened 51.81 points, or 0.5%, to close the week at 9,647.38
In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng Index regained 25.87 points, or 0.1%, to 21,406.90
Surging oil prices helped boost some Asian energy shares. Benchmark crude-oil futures broke through $108 U.S. a barrel in electronic trading, after hitting a nine-month high in New York trading.
Tokyo-listed Inpex Corp. rose 5.1% and Japan Petroleum Exploration Co. added 3%.
In Sydney, AGL Energy Ltd. traded down 4.7% after the firm posted a drop in first-half net profit and said it will raise 1.5 billion Australian dollars ($1.6 billion U.S.) from share issues to help buy Tokyo Electric Power Co.’s interest in the Loy Yang power station. Shares of Tokyo Electric Power, better known as Tepco, lost 2.4% in Japan trading.
Newcrest Mining Ltd. dropped 4.3% in Sydney after the gold miner said difficulties at its Lihir mine were expected to impair quarterly production.
But metals shares moved higher in Tokyo, with Nippon Steel Corp. gaining 3.5% and Sumitomo Metal Industries Ltd. up 3.7%.
Among exporters making ground in Tokyo, Sony Corp. got a 3% bounce, Pioneer Corp. rose 2.5% and Mazda Motor Corp. climbed 0.7%.
J. Front Retailing Co. rose 1.5% on a Nikkei business daily report that it would buy shopping-mall firm Parco Co., paying a sharp premium for some of the shares. Shares of Parco remained bid-only at the end of the morning trading session in Tokyo.
In Hong Kong, Esprit Holdings Ltd. recovered from an earlier slump to end fractionally higher. Several brokers, including UBS and Citigroup downgraded
Property developers dragged in Hong Kong. Sino Land Co. dropped 1.1% and Hang Lung Properties Ltd. eased 1%.
In other markets;
The Shanghai CSI 300 picked up 41.76 points, or 1.6%, to 2,648.02
Taiwan’s Taiex Index surged 22.04 points, or 0.3%, to 7,959.34
Korea’s Kospi Index added 12.09 points, or 0.6%, to 2,019.89
Singapore’s Straits Times Index gained 9.74 points, or 0.3%, to 2,978.08
New Zealand’s NZX 50 Index slid 3.39 points, or 0.1%, to 3,319.76
Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 Index moved higher by 20.59 points, or 0.5%, to 4,306.78
