Asian stock markets jumped Friday as a pledge from the European Central Bank to keep the euro-zone intact and Samsung Electronics Co.’s record profit buoyed sentiment.
In Japan, the Nikkei 225 Index triumphed 123.54 points, or 1.5%, to conclude the week at 8,566.64
The Hang Seng Index in Hong Kong picked up 382.17 points, or 2%, to 19,274.96
The broad regional advance came after the Dow Jones Industrial Average sealed its best day this month, following comments by European Central Bank (ECB) President Mario Draghi that the bank will do "whatever it takes to preserve the euro."
The performance helped most markets pare weekly losses, while helping the South Korean and the Australian benchmarks to erase losses registered earlier this week. Both the Kospi and the S&P end the week up 0.3%.
The Hang Seng Index was the worst performer among the six benchmarks mentioned above, with a 1.9% loss, followed by a 1.8% drop for the Shanghai Composite, a 1.2% decline for the Nikkei and a 0.6% fall for the Taiex.
Europe-exposed exporters were among the key gainers in Asia on Friday.
Tokyo-listed Mazda Motor Corp. climbed 5.7%, Sony Corp. rose 3.7% and Pioneer Corp. gained 4.3%, as the euro traded around ¥96 against the Japanese yen, compared to the mid-¥94 range at the start of the week.
Shares of Toshiba Corp. pared recent losses to end up 4.9%, after a Nikkei report that the electronics major is expected to report next week that its quarterly operating profit more than doubled on the prior year.
A record second-quarter profit sent heavyweight Samsung Electronics Co. up 5.2% in Seoul.
Other Korean blue-chip techs also marched higher, with LG Electronics Inc. gaining 3.5%. LG Display Co. shot up 7.3% in the upbeat market, shrugging off a second-quarter loss posted Thursday.
Financials did well in Hong Kong, as shares of Industrial & Commercial Bank of China Ltd. and China Construction Bank Corp. advanced 2.1% each; in Shanghai, they climbed 1.1% and 1.6%, respectively.
Top-weighted Hang Seng Index component HSBC Holdings PLC added 2.6%, getting an extra bump from the announced sale of its stake in a payment-processing firm for $242 million.
Growth-sensitive resource shares were also strong performers across Asia.
Hong Kong-listed China Coal Energy Co. jumped 3%, while energy firm Cnooc Ltd. put 2.8%, even as a U.S. Senator was reportedly set to urge the Treasury department to demand concessions over Cnooc’s plan to acquire Canadian firm Nexen Inc.
In Sydney, Rio Tinto Ltd. added 3%, and Fortescue Metals Group Ltd. firmed up by 3.8%.
Steel makers were other notable gainers. JFE Holdings Inc. soared 7.1% in Tokyo after the firm said late Thursday that its profit more than doubled in the previous quarter.
Shares of Angang Steel Co. climbed 3.4% in Hong Kong and added 0.3% in a downbeat Shenzhen market, while BlueScope Steel Ltd. traded up 4.1% in Sydney.
In other markets
Shanghai’s CSI 300 index eked up 1.62 points, or 0.1%, to 2,349.11
Korea’s Kospi Index improved 46.69 points, or 2.6%, to 1,829.16
Singapore's Straits Times Index fell back 6.08 points, or 0.2%, to 2,998.49
Taiwan’s Taiex Index leaped 153.80 points, or 2.2%, to 7,124.49
New Zealand’s NZX index improved 15.55 points, or 0.5%, to 3,501.29
Australia’s ASX Index moved forward 62.04 points, or 1.5%, to 4,209.77
