A spike on Wall Street drove Asian markets higher Friday, lifting Chinese shares for a sixth straight session and triggering a rebound in Japanese stocks that more than erased losses suffered earlier this week.
Japan’s Nikkei 225 Index rocketed up 210.06 points, or 2.3%, to 9,430.96
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index ended the week on the march, gaining 225.63 points, or 1.1%, to 20,815.33
The improved risk appetite pushed resource stocks higher. Riding along, construction equipment makers gained from Caterpillar's strong earnings while technology trades were inspired as Qualcomm's results beat estimates.
A 91% surge in Caterpillar's second-quarter profit was lifting sentiment globally, according to several experts.
Cheering Caterpillar's earnings, Komatsu jumped 4.3%, and Hitachi Construction Machinery advanced 4% in Tokyo. In Seoul, Doosan Infracore advanced 1.7% while Lonking Holdings gained 1.5% in Hong Kong.
Technology stocks advanced after Qualcomm Inc.reported quarterly results late Wednesday that were better than expected, easing fears of a slide in mobile-phone prices. The communications chip maker also increased its earnings guidance for the fiscal year.
South Korea's Hynix Semiconductor added 2.9%, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing rose 1.3% and Japan's Toshiba added 2.1%, getting an additional boost from a weakened yen.
In Seoul, LG Display jumped 3.7% after Thursday reporting its second-quarter net profit rose 51% from a year earlier. Chief Executive Kwon Young-soo also said the company isn't able to meet panel orders from Apple Inc. due to strong demand.
Energy and material plays posted gains, with Japan's Inpex Corp. rising 4.3%, Australian heavyweight BHP Billiton tacking on 2.1%, and Jiangxi Copper climbing 2.8% in Hong Kong.
Financial stocks advanced ahead of the closely watched results of stress tests on European banks, expected later Friday. Investors are optimistic that the results will be relatively benign.
Hong Kong-listed HSBC Holdings added 1.3%, Commonwealth Bank of Australia rose 2.6%, Japan's Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group gained 1.8% and Oversea-Chinese Banking Corp. stretched 1.4% in Singapore trade.
South Korean banks got an extra boost from expectations their earnings will rebound in the third quarter after suffering from industry-wide restructuring provisions in the second quarter, Hong said. Hana Financial Group surged 5.5% and Shinhan Financial Group tacked on 4.5%.
Brokerages were also higher on expectations that the Kospi would soon break through resistance at 1,750. Daewoo Securities soared 7.3% and Hyundai Securities surged 7.2%.
Mitsui O.S.K. Lines and other shipping stocks rose sharply in Tokyo after the Nikkei newspaper reported they were ramping up their containership services to Africa on increased demand for goods, as resource-rich nations there show economic growth.
The report said Japanese, Chinese and Korean companies are making forays into the African market to tap such growth, lifting demand for shipping and distribution. Mitsui O.S.K. added 5.4% and Kawasaki Kisen Kaisha gained 3.2%.
In foreign-exchange markets, investors were awaiting the results of the European bank stress tests. The euro was at $1.2962 from $1.2892 in late New York trade Thursday, and at 112.82 yen from 112.81 yen. The dollar was at 87.03 yen from 86.93 yen.
Elsewhere;
Shanghai’s CSI 300 Index gained 11.79 points, or 0.4%, to 2,793.08
Singapore’s Straits Times Index gained 17.80 points, or 0.6%, to 2,973.47
Korea’s Kospi index improved 22.53 points, or 1.3%, to 1,758.06
Taiwan’s Taiex Index jumped 94.88 points, or 1.2%, to 7,761.22
New Zealand’s NZX index added 13.55 points, or 0.5%, to 2,994.90
Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 grew 83.70 points, or 1.9%, to 4,458.40
