Asian markets ended mostly higher Friday, with technology shares soaring after a strong performance overnight by their U.S. peers, while steelmakers advanced on hopes a recovery in China will support product prices.
The Nikkei 225 Index gained 152.32 points, or 1.7% to 8,907.58.
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index picked up 18.58 points, or 0.1% to 15,601.27
The weekly performance was mixed, though, with Japanese, South Korean and Taiwan shares declining after rallying in the previous few weeks. Stocks in Australia, China and Hong Kong posted handsome gains for the week.
In Tokyo, Toshiba Corp. jumped 4.4% after the company said it likely sustained a group operating loss of around 250 billion yen ($2.5 billion U.S.) for the year ended March 31, compared with its estimate of a 280 billion yen loss, helped by output cuts by chip makers.
Several other technology shares also ended higher, with Elpida Memory soaring 10.3% in Tokyo, Samsung Electronics up 2.8% and Hynix Semiconductor up 8.7% in Seoul. In Taipei, Inotera Memories gained 1.9% and Hon Hai Precision Industry added 0.5% in spite of the downbeat broad market.
LG Display added 1% in Seoul in spite of posting its second-straight quarterly net loss in the three months ended March 31, after the flat-panel maker signaled better results in the current quarter.
Hopes for an improvement in Chinese demand lifted steelmakers, with Nippon Steel Corp. adding 1.7% in Seoul.
Cathay Pacific Airways ended 3.4% lower in Hong Kong, after saying it was reducing its passenger and cargo capacity and would ask some staff to take unpaid leave over the next 12 months.
CHINA
Chinese stocks themselves were weak, however, giving up some of their recent gains. Baoshan Iron & Steel fell 3.1% in Shanghai, while Angang Steel dropped 4.7% in Shenzhen.
Aluminum Corp. of China lost 4.5% after Goldman Sachs downgraded the stock to "neutral" from "buy."
Elsewhere:
China’s Shanghai 300 Composite Index slid 36.42 points, ending its winning streak at six, to finish the week at 2,650.69
Singapore’s Straits Times Index advanced 4.81 points, or 0.3% to 1,896.56
South Korea’s Kospi Composite Index gave back 7.72 points, or 0.6%, to 1,329
Taiwan’s Taiex Index tanked 241.79 points, or 4%, to 5,755.38
New Zealand’s NZX 50 Index gained 48.13, or 2.4% to 2,663.14
Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 was fairly flat, at 3,776.70
