Asian stock indexes ended higher Friday as markets rose on data that showed China's domestic demand is holding up even as Beijing continues its campaign to cool the economy.
Japan’s Nikkei 225 Index sprinted ahead 140.78 points, or 1.6%, to close the week at 9,239.17
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index picked up 90.12 points, or 0.4%, to 21,257.39
Trading activity was muted somewhat by holiday-related closures among several regional markets.
Japanese stocks rose as investors looked positively at signs of increased Chinese demand for goods, a weaker yen and the government's widely anticipated revision to growth in the second quarter.
Japanese stocks were benefiting from the yen's drop against the U.S. dollar. The dollar traded above the 84-yen mark after the government Friday announced a 915-billion-yen ($10.9 billion U.S.) stimulus package aimed at dealing with domestic deflation and the surging yen.
The yen was also down in reaction to a statement from the government that it would take "decisive steps, including interventions, when necessary" to curb the yen's strength.
Among exporters, Honda Motor added 0.3%, and Sony rose 1.7%.
Canon rose 5.6% after it said Thursday it would buy back up to 15 million of its own shares-- 1.2% of shares outstanding -- for up to 50 billion yen.
Consumer lenders and some small banks underperformed the market after the Nikkei reported that Incubator Bank of Japan told the Financial Services Agency Friday that it will not be able to pay back all its debt. That prompted the FSA to declare the institution bankrupt and to order it to suspend operations for three days through Sept. 12.
Its failure was not expected to be a risk for the overall banking system as its operations were small and it specialized in small-business loans. Shares of Takefuji Corp. dropped 5.9%.
Australian shares ended lower after an early rise to a four-week high, as declines were seen in materials, consumer staples and health care stocks. Newcrest Mining shed 2.3% and Foster's Group lost 1.6%.
Virgin Blue dropped 7% after Australia's competition regulator said it will likely block Virgin's planned trans-Tasman tie-up with Air New Zealand. Rival Qantas added 2.4% as an apparent competitive threat was removed.
In foreign-exchange markets, the yen weakened on the government's comments as well as short-covering on the dollar-yen pair. The dollar was at 83.90 yen, after trading as high as 84.30 yen, compared with 83.83 yen in late New York Thursday.
CHINA
China's shares were volatile after the after the release of the trade data, and ahead of more August stats due out Saturday.
Shanghai’s CSI 300 Index inched up 6.09 points, or 0.2%, to 2,932.55
The August figures for industrial output, fixed-asset investment, and consumer- and wholesale-price inflation will be released on Saturday, after the National Bureau of Statistics announced it would bring forward the release by two days. The data had been originally scheduled for Monday.
Property developers slipped on continued worries that more measures to cool the real-estate sector may be on the cards. China Vanke dropped 3.4% and Poly Real Estate Group shed 1.8%.
China's August imports were up 35.2% year-on-year to $119.27 billion U.S., against a 25% increase expected by economists surveyed by Dow Jones Newswires. Exports climbed 34.4% to $139.3 billion U.S., against an expected 35% increase.
China's trade surplus narrowed to $20 billion U.S. in August, from $28.7 billion U.S. in July. Economists had been expecting a $30-billion U.S. surplus.
Elsewhere;
Singapore markets had the day off
Korea’s Kospi index added 18.22 points, or 1%, to 1,802.58
Taiwan’s Taiex Index improved 54.57 points, or 0.7%, to 7,890.11
New Zealand’s NZX index moved 13.76 points, or 0.4%, higher to 3,161
Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 went the other way, and slumped 21.90 points, or 0.5%, to 4,560.30
