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Asian stocks close week on high
TOKYO, Japan -- Asian markets finished a volatile week to close on a high Friday, led by a broad-based rally in Tokyo. The big Japanese banks continued their powerful surge, driving the Nikkei 225 average up 2.25 percent to 9530.44 as investors looked forward to a cabinet reshuffle in Japan on Monday. UFJ Holdings jumped more than 9 percent and Mizuho Holdings rose almost 7 percent. The broader capital-weighted Topix index did even better than the Nikkei, putting on 2.44 percent to 936.22. Asia's stock market gains Friday followed a jump of almost 2 percent by the Dow Jones industrial average on Wall Street Thursday. The Dow finished at 7997.12, up 1.98 percent. But the tech-heavy Nasdaq composite eased just a fraction, dipping 0.06 percent to 1221.61. (Full story) Among other major markets in Asia, South Korea, Singapore, Hong Kong and Australia all showed gains, but they were relatively muted compared to Tokyo. Taiwan's Taiex dipped into the red, closing 0.3 percent lower at 4208.80 after spending most of the day higher. South Korea's Kospi rose 0.2 percent to 663.72 and Australia's S&P/ASX200 added 0.68 percent to 3008.9. Hong Kong's Hang Seng closed flat, up 23 points or 0.23 percent. Singapore's Straits Times index is more than 2 percent stronger at 1383 heading towards the close. New Zealand down
New Zealand's Top 40 lost 0.65 percent as market heavyweight Telecom New Zealand eased to NZ$4.80. U.S. telco Verizon said late Thursday it was selling most of its 21.5 percent cornerstone stake in the N.Z. carrier. (Full story) New Zealand released figures Friday showing the economy grew 1.7 percent in the June quarter over the previous quarter. (Full story) The strong gains by Tokyo's big banks Friday came as Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi foreshadowed a cabinet reshuffle Monday that may speed the resolution of the nation's bad-loan problem. Analysts said the market was cheered by a report that suggested the Japanese government shares with the Bank of Japan a sense of urgency about tackling banks' bad loans. The BOJ said last week it would take the unprecedented step of buying shares directly from banks to shore up the financial system. Mizuho Holdings, the world's biggest banking group by assets, put on 6.7 percent to 287,000 yen. UFJ Holdings rose a sharp 9.22 percent to 320,000 yen. The other two members of the big four, Mitsubishi Tokyo Financial Group and Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corp, both closed more than 5 percent higher. Jobless rate steadyNew data released Friday showed Japan's jobless rate in August remained steady at 5.4 percent. (Full story) Other figures showed consumer prices continued to decline. (Full story) Big telcos NTT DoCoMo and KDDI both closed almost 5 percent higher, consumer electronics leader Sony rose 3 percent to 5330 yen and big computer and chipmaker Toshiba added 3.5 percent to 378 384 yen. Mitsubishi Electric, the focus of a chipmaking reshuffle this week, jumped 5 percent to 407 yen and Hitachi rose 3.9 percent to 637 yen. In Seoul, investor favorite SK Telecom added 3 percent to 235,000 won, but the market's biggest stock, Samsung Electronics, eased 1.4 percent to 309,500 won. Steelmaker Posco continued to gain after a bad run, up another 2 percent to 106,000 won. It dipped below 100,000 won on Wednesday, its lowest price since November last year. South Korea reported industrial output grew at a robust pace in August, led by semiconductors and carmakers like Hyundai Motor. (Full story) News Corp gains
In Australia, media giant News Corp closed 1.21 percent higher at A$9.20 after it said Thursday there was still no deal with Vivendi on buying the Telepiu pay TV operation in Italy. BHP Billiton and Rio Tinto both rose, but the big four banks ended down. Financial services group AMP continued its slow climb back, up 0.65 percent to A$12.31. Hong Kong bluechips were mixed. Hutchison Whampoa added 0.85 percent to HK$47.70 and China Unicom lost 1.5 percent. Singapore's banks are firmer. UOB is up 3.4 percent to S$12.10 and DBS is 1.8 percent higher. In Taiwan, chip foundries TSMC and UMC closed in the red, but industrials such as Formosa Plastic and Nan Ya Plastic showed gains of about 1 percent.
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