Japanese stocks led most Asian markets higher Friday, cheering gains on Wall Street and a weakened yen, while Chinese stocks retreated amid concerns about liquidity conditions.
Japan’s Nikkei 225 zoomed higher 295.38 points, or 2.2%, to end the week at 13,660.55, as the U.S. dollar briefly climbed above the ¥99-level.
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index erased 31.89 points, or 0.2%, to 21,863.51
Friday’s performance helped the Nikkei Average and the S&P/ASX 200 erase losses they had accumulated earlier in the week. But the Shanghai Composite, the Hang Seng Index and the Kospi suffered losses of between 0.5% and 2.9%.
Stock gains in Tokyo were spread across sectors. Kawasaki Heavy Industries Ltd added 4.9%, Kobe Steel Ltd. rose 4.6%, Toshiba Corp. advanced 4.2%, Nissan Motor Corp. finished 3.4% higher and Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group Inc. climbed 2.7%.
Some Hong Kong-listed stocks found buying support after reporting earnings. Kunlun Energy Co. added 3.2% after the company posted a 5% increase in its first-half profit, while Henderson Land Development Co. advanced 2.6% despite a modest decline in its profits.
CHINA
The Shanghai Shenzhen CSI 300 shed 17 points, or 0.7%, to 2,286.93
China Merchants Bank Co. lost 3.2% in Shanghai and 1.1% in Hong Kong on its planned rights share issue to raise about 34.9 billion yuan ($5.7 billion U.S).
Other mid-sized banks also declined, with Industrial Bank Co. losing 2% and China Minsheng Banking Corp. shedding 1.5% in Shanghai, while Ping An Bank Corp. dropped 3% in Shenzhen.
In other markets;
The Taiex Index in Taiwan regained 58.93 points, or 0.8%, to 7,873.31
Korea’s Kospi Index tacked on 21.04 points, or 1.1%, to 1,870.16
The Singapore Straits Times Index gave back 0.55 points to 3,088.55
In New Zealand, the Exchange 50 Gross Index docked 5.65 points, or 0.1%, to 4,524.21
In Australia, the S&P/ASX 200 hiked 47.61 points, or 0.9%, to 5,123.36
