Japanese stocks soared Friday in a post-holiday catch-up rally that was aided again by a weaker yen, while most other Asian markets fell on concerns U.S. central bankers were considering an end to their bond-buying program.
In Japan, the Nikkei 225 index returned to trade with a flourish, gaining 292.93 points, or 2.8%, to begin the year at 10.686.11, a level it hadn’t seen since last March.
The rally came as trading began in Tokyo for the first time in this calendar year, and after U.S. lawmakers signed an agreement to avert the worst of the fiscal cliff.
In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng index faded 67.51 points, or 0.3%, to 23,331.09
Stocks in Japan posted solid gains, with a wide swathe of major exporters rising sharply as the dollar weakened to near ¥88, up from the ¥86 level last week, before the Tokyo stock market closed for holidays.
Hitachi Ltd. surged 5.2%, Bridgestone Corp. rocketed up 7.5%, Toyota Motor Corp. jumped 6.4% and Honda Motor Co. added 4%.
Financials also advanced in response to the U.S. fiscal-cliff deal, with Nomura Holdings Inc. trading up 4.2% and Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group Inc. rising 5%.
Among the few blue chips losing ground, Sharp Corp. fell 2.6% after the Yomiuri Shimbun reported Tuesday that the company may issue more than $1.15 billion U.S. in new shares.
Unlike their Japanese peers, Hong Kong-listed banks moved lower, hit by the Fed news and a 0.5% drop for U.S. financials Thursday.
Top-weighted index component HSBC Holdings PLC lost 1.6%, while Agricultural Bank of China Ltd. fell 0.3% and China Merchants Bank Co. declined 0.8%.
Outside of financials, several blue-chips fell in Hong Kong, with footwear major Shoe maker Belle International Holdings Ltd. losing 3.2% and Want Want China Holdings Ltd. shedding 1.7%.
Also weighing on sentiment in the Hong Kong market were data from HSBC showing its Purchasing Managers’ Index for the territory falling to 51.7 last month from November’s 52.2, though it remained above the 50 mark separating expansion from contraction.
Over in Sydney, Australian stocks retreated after hitting a 20-month high in the previous session, as the heavily-weighted mining sector took a beating on sharply lower commodity prices.
The Fed minutes added losses to the commodities. Benchmark copper futures, for instance, lost more than 1% on the Comex overnight, while aluminum futures tumbled 2% in London trade, according to Reuters.
Tracking the losses, Rio Tinto Ltd. fell 1% and BHP Billiton Ltd. dropped 0.6%, while Fortescue Metals Group Ltd. closed 3.6% lower.
Hong Kong resource shares also dropped, with Angang Steel Co. dropping 2.4%, and Zijin Mining Group Co. 2.9% lower.
On the upside in Australia, MacMahon Holdings Ltd. rose 1.8% after it confirmed that a unit of India’s Punj Lloyd Ltd. was bidding for its construction unit.
In Seoul, exporters mostly retreated after mixed trade earlier in the session, with Samsung Electronics Co. dropping 1.2%, while its chip-making rival SK Hynix Inc. fell 1.1%.
CHINA
In Shanghai, however, banks were mostly higher, as the market opened for the first time after the U.S. fiscal-cliff agreement.
The Shanghai CSI 300 returned to work Friday, gaining a mere 1.46 points, or 0.1%, to 2,524.41
China Construction Bank Corp. rose 2.2% and AgBank 3.2%.
In other markets
In Singapore, the Straits Times Index moved up 0.42 points, or 0.01%, to 3,225.22
Korea’s Kospi Index subsided 7.47 points, or 0.4%, to 2,011.94
Taiwan’s Taiex Index fell off 30.85 points, or 0.4%, to 7,805.99
The NZX 50 lost 7.33 points, or 0.2%, to 4,075.04
Australia’s ASX Index dipped 16.90 points, or 0.4%, to 4,723.78
