Asian stocks traded broadly higher Friday, paced by a record-setting session on Wall Street.
Japan’s Nikkei 225 surged 460.39 points, or 3.3%, to finish the week at 14,005.77
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index spiked 102.18 points, or 0.5%, to 22,190.97
Investors in Asia were inspired by Thursday’s rally in U.S. stocks, which pushed the S&P 500 index over the 1,700 mark for the first time and the Dow Jones Industrial Average to its own record high. Attention now turns to the closely-watched monthly U.S. jobs report, slated for release later Friday.
Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 achieved its highest level since late May.
Heavily-weighted bank shares bounced back from Thursday’s losses after a report on possible new bank taxes was revised, easing some profit concerns. Westpac Banking Corp. climbed 1.9% and Australia and New Zealand Banking Group jumped 1.8%.
The Australian dollar continued to tumble Friday, hitting a fresh three-year low of $0.8889 as the U.S. dollar held firm and investors anticipated further interest rate cuts from the Reserve Bank of Australia.
In Tokyo, the Nikkei Stock Average climbed 3.3% to 14,466.16 after the U.S. dollar surged against the yen overnight. The greenback is expected to trade even higher in the event of a strong U.S. jobs report.
Monetary easing in Japan remains a major theme, and compared with dollar-yen levels reached as recently as early July, "there is still plenty of runway for [U.S. dollar] longs," said one expert.
The dollar was recently at ¥99.66, compared with ¥99.56 late Thursday in New York.
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index rose following the U.S. rally. Better-than-expected earnings from tycoon Li Ka-Shing’s Cheung Kong property firm and Hutchison Whampoa conglomerate added strength. Hutchison Whampoa shares closed 4.5% higher; Cheung Kong rose 1.7%.
CHINA
The Shanghai Shenzhen CSI 300 eked up 1.90 points, or 0.1%, to 2,247.26
Analysts said investors are awaiting fresh cues on the direction of the country’s reform plans before building sizable positions.
In other markets;
Taiwan’s Taiex regained 43.66 points, or 0.5%, to 8,099.88
In Singapore, the Straits Times Index added 10.84 points, or 0.3%, to 3,254.13
Korea’s Kospi Index tacked on 2.64 points, or 0.1%, to 1,923.38
In New Zealand, the Exchange 50 Gross Index gained 37.12 points, or 0.8%, to 4,582.89
In Australia, the S&P/ASX 200 added 55.27 points, or 1.1%, to 5,116.76
