Tokyo closes up, HK down again


Mobile leader NTT DoCoMo closed higher.

TOKYO, Japan -- Tokyo stocks closed higher Friday, led by gains among key technology stocks such as Toshiba, Kyocera and Sony.

But Hong Kong weakened again, as did Australia and New Zealand.

Other markets in the region were mixed. Korea and Taiwan finished higher, but the Philippines and Malaysia were down.

Singapore was also lower in late trade, while in Mumbai the BSE was moving higher, pushed along by pharmaceutical stocks such as Ranbaxy.

In Tokyo, the benchmark Nikkei 225 average closed 63.94 points or 0.61 percent higher at 10,538.79, while the broader capital-weighted TOPIX index was 2.17 points or 0.2 percent higher at 1,070.65.

Sony, Toshiba, Kyocera make gains

Consumer electronics giant Sony, chipmaker Toshiba and IC ceramics maker Kyocera all rose. Sony finished 2.2 percent higher at 5040 yen, Toshiba was up 6.9 percent to 526 yen and Kyocera put on 270 yen or 3 percent to 9020 yen.

Leading mobile phone carrier NTT DoCoMo Inc finished 0.6 percent higher at 1.68 million yen after dipping earlier to 1.65 million yen.

That initial fall was linked to a report -- denied by DoCoMo -- in the Nihon Keizai business daily that the carrier planned to post an appraisal loss of about 400 billion yen ($3.30 billion) on its shareholdings in Dutch telco KPN Mobile.

Japan's stronger finish on Friday followed a positive close for U.S. technology stocks on Thursday, though.Nasdaq's gains were offset by continuing concern about the slowing global economy and anthrax .

In the U.S., Microsoft last traded at $56.89 on the Instinet electronic system, up from its close at $56.75 on the Nasdaq after the software giant posted a lower net profit but higher revenues.

Half-year earnings due next week

Trading in Tokyo was subdued as traders laid low ahead of half-year earnings from technology companies next week.

They are also awaiting progress on the policy front, including moves toward solving the problem of massive bad loans held by Japanese banks.

"The Nasdaq didn't crumble further as some thought it would, luring some buyers to bid techs higher," Masatoshi Sato, manager of the equities division at Mizuho Investors Securities, told Reuters news agency.

"But a sour-loan solution remains elusive, the supplementary budget is unlikely to do much for the economy, and the future direction for Wall Street remains unclear."

Video game maker Nintendo shed 1.57 percent to 18,850 yen, while software maker Sega Corp surged 10.22 percent to 2,265 yen after Morgan Stanley assigned it a "strong buy" rating with a target price of 4,800 yen.

Qantas jumps on equity success

Elsewhere in the region, Australia's S&P/ASX200 was off 24.2 points or 0.76 percent to 3175.4, with Qantas the standout performer, putting on 10.8 percent to A$3.59 after its successful new equity raising.


Hong Kong's Hang Seng index finished down again, losing half a percent

New Zealand's Top 40 weakened 11.13 points or 0.59 percent to 1890.54, while in the Seoul the Kospi put on 3.83 points or 0.73 percent to 528.04.

Korea's Hynix Semiconductor, which reported a third-quarter loss of 1.6 trillion won ($1.25 billion), rose 5.8 percent to 1005 won. Market heavyweight Samsung Electronics also finished higher, putting on 4.3 percent to 170,000 won.

Hong Kong's Hang Seng index, which lost 3.7 percent Thursday, slipped further Friday after looking stronger in the morning session. At one point it touched 9948, before easing to close at 9825.84, down 54.77 points or 0.55 percent.

HK-listed telco twins China Mobile and China Unicom made up some ground Friday but are well below their highs for the year.

Hong Kong property stocks Sun Hung Kai Properties and Henderson Land also recovered, but banking blue chip HSBC and conglomerate Hutchison Whampoa eased about 1 percent.

In Singapore, the Straits Times index was about 15 points or 1.1 percent lower at 1391.03 in late trade.

Reuters contributed to this report.