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Nikkei lifts Asia to higher close
(CNN) -- Japan's market has finished the week on a high, the Nikkei jumping 1.5 percent to its best close since late January as industrial stocks added to gains for techs and automakers. Other Asian markets also closed higher, swept along by Tokyo's renewed enthusiasm for equities ahead of key U.S. jobs data that will give a pointer to the strength of a global recovery. Tokyo's Nikkei 225 average closed 1.49 percent firmer at 8785.87 after going as high as 8814.04 earlier in the day. The index, which added 1.16 percent on Thursday and has risen for seven of the past eight trading days, has now put on more than 15 percent since touching a 20-year low of 7603.76 in late April. The broader Topix index rose 1.21 percent to 869.61. In Tokyo, mobile phone company NTT Docomo, the market's biggest stock, put on 2.64 percent to 267,000 yen and parent NTT rose 2 percent to 455,000 yen. Office machine maker Canon jumped 3.4 percent to 5160 yen and consumer electronics leader Sony reversed early losses to finish 1.5 percent higher at 3470 yen. South Korea's market was closed Friday for a holiday. Australia's S&PASX200 index staged a mild turnaround to close 0.28 percent higher at 3048.9. There were small gains too, for Taiwan's Taiex, up 0.04 percent to 4740.45, and New Zealand's Top 50, up 0.39 percent to 2109.89. Hong Kong's Hang Seng index is about 0.8 percent higher to 9714.50 near the close. Singapore's Straits Times index is up 0.48 percent to 1434.49. In Tokyo, Japanese techs rebounded from early weakness as investor confidence grew during the day. Tokyo Electron, Advantest, Fujitsu, Hitachi, Toshiba, NEC and Kyocera all ended in the black. Fuji Electric was 2.3 percent higher to 229 yen and Fuji Photo Film rose 1.9 percent to 3300 yen. That came after Intel, the world's biggest chipmaker, tightened its sales outlook on Thursday. On Wall Street, the Dow Jones industrial average rose 0.03 percent Thursday to 9041.30, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq put on 0.69 percent to 1646.01. (Full story) Japanese big banks were mainly firmer, with a 4.9 percent gain to 129,000 yen for UFJ, and SMFG up 3.8 percent to 245,000 yen. MTFG made a modest gain and Mizuho ended 0.27 percent lower at 75,2000 yen. Among automakers, the big three of Toyota, Honda and Nissan all ended higher, with gains of around 1.5 percent. Among industrials, Japan's No. 4 steelmaker Kobe Steel ended more than 11 percent higher to 98 yen after UBS Warburg initiated coverage. Larger rival Nippon Steel was up 2.8 percent to 148 yen. In Australia, market heavyweight News Corp finished almost 1 percent higher at A$12.07 after it said the Justice Department had asked it for more information about its proposal to invest $6.6 billion in Hughes Electronics Corp. (Full story) National Australia Bank ended down 2.4 percent to A$33.03 after going ex-dividend. Other big banks were firmer. Earlier Friday, the governor of the central Reserve Bank of Australia cut the 2003 growth outlook to 3 percent and indicated rates could be trimmed if the global economy does not improve. (Full story) There were solid gains of 1 percent-plus for resources groups BHP Billiton and Rio Tinto as it became clear a $3.2 billion takeover bid for miner MIM by Xstrata was likely to succeed. (Full story) Qantas Airways was 0.6 percent higher at A$3.40, while leading telco Telstra finished unchanged at A$4.44. In Hong Kong, investors are feeling more confident about the outlook as SARS-related fears ebb. PCCW is down 2.8 percent to HK$5.15 after it resumed trading Friday. On Thursday, Britain's Cable & Wireless sold its full 14 percent stake in PCCW for up to $400 million. ( Full story) Big bank HSBC is unchanged at HK$93.75. China Mobile is up 2.5 percent to HK$18.75 and Hutchison Whampoa is up about 1 percent to HK$48.80. In Singapore, there are gains of about 2 percent for banking leader DBS to S$10.60. Singapore Airlines and SingTel are both unchanged. In Taiwan, market heavyweight TSMC ended 1.74 percent higher at T$58.50. In New Zealand, the market's top two stocks, Telecom NZ and Carter Holt Harvey, showed little movement. Telecom rose 0.2 percent to NZ$5.09 and CHH was flat at NZ$1.68.
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