Japanese shares made a solid showing in their resumption of trading after an extended holiday, while Hong Kong stocks closed Thursday's session lower -- reflecting a mixed performance across the region.
In Tokyo, the Nikkei 225 returned after a three-day holiday, with a 173.68-point gain to 10,544.72, supported by advances in other markets during a five-day holiday as well as gains in chip-related stocks. The Thursday session also marked the final day for investors to buy stocks ahead of a cutoff date that can affect dividend payments and other rights.
In Hong Kong, stocks came under pressure as a result of a disappointing debut for the city's biggest IPO this year. In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng index plummeted 544.79 points, or 2.5%, to 21,050.73.
Traders said that Thursday's decliners were tracking the performance of U.S. equities overnight, after the Federal Reserve held interest rates steady and highlighted signs of economic recovery but indicated it would slow the purchase of bonds, taken as signaling that interest rates could soon rise.
In Australia, shares of BHP Billiton traded down 1.6% and Rio Tinto lost 1.3%, while Hong Kong-listed shares of Jiangxi Copper fell 3.6%. In South Korea, Posco shed 1.8%
Other notable decliners in Hong Kong included oil producer Cnooc Ltd., shares of which fell 3.5%.
Further dampening investor sentiment, Metallurgical Corp. of China struggled in its debut on the Hong Kong market, its shares ending at HK$5.61, or 11.5% below the price set on its initial public offering.
Conita Hung, head of equity markets at Delta Asia Financial, said the stock's Hong Kong IPO price translated to around 26 times forecasted 2009 earnings. "I think the IPO price was a bit pricey," said Hung, who expects the stock to trade between HK$5.30 and HK$6.00 in the near term.
Japanese stocks were supported by the chip sector, with investors cheered by upbeat comments that Paul Otellini, the chief executive of Intel Corp., made earlier in the week. He said he expects PC sales for the year to be "flat to slightly" higher.
Shares of Tokyo Electron traded up 5.7%, Elpida Memory added 4.8% and Toshiba gained 3.8%.
A notable decliner, shares of Japan Airlines lost 15.8% on uncertainty over the carrier's efforts to restructure. After the market closed, President and Chief Executive Haruka Nishimatsu said the company has asked the Japanese government for public funds to boost its capital base.
Also lower, shares of Aiful plunged 23.9% after the consumer lender said it was preparing to apply for debt-reorganization procedures mediated by a third party. The company also said it now expects a group net loss of Y311 billion for the current fiscal year, a reversal from its previous forecast that had called for a Y8.12-billion profit.
Elsewhere, Singapore's Noble Group added 7.8% as it resumed trade after Tuesday's news that sovereign wealth fund China Investment Corp. bought a 15% stake in the company for $850 million U.S.
There was some caution ahead of the Group of 20 summit in Pittsburgh to be held Thursday and Friday, with investors watching for any comments by officials on foreign-exchange levels.
But Eurasia Group said it expects any impact from the summit to be limited. "With 20-plus states, all with different domestic interests, and without an enforcement mechanism, the G20 is unlikely to agree to much beyond weakly worded agreements-in-principle," Eurasia analysts said.
Elsewhere:
Shanghai’s 300 Composite Index gained 20.86 points, or 0.7%, to 3,080.93,
South Korea’s Kospi index slid 18.31 points, or 0.7%, to 1,693.88.
Taiwan’s Taiex fell 52.24 points, or 0.7%, to 7,324
Singapore’s Straits Times index fell back 18.51 points, or 0.7%, to 2,667.43
New Zealand’s NZX 50 Index jettisoned 17.49 points, or 0.6%, to 3,130.42
Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 slipped 32.90 points, or 0.7%, to 4,701.20
