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Nikkei closes at 13-month high
(CNN) -- Tokyo's Nikkei led Asian markets to a broadly higher close Friday, after a rise on Wall Street and strong Japanese industrial output for July. The Nikkei 225 average put on 1.16 percent to close at a 13-month high of 10,343.55. Earlier in the day it hit 10,362 -- a level about 35 percent above the two-decade low seen in late April. Hitachi, Fujitsu and Kyocera and other big tech-related stocks notched up solid gains. The broader Topix index finished up 0.52 percent to 998.71. Taiwan's Taiex posted the region's best gain, surging 2.3 percent to 5650.83 -- just below Monday's 14-month closing high of 5686. In Seoul the Kospi closed up 0.9 percent at 759.47 after South Korea posted figures showing consumer prices are on the rise following three months of falls. (Full story) Hong Kong's Hang Seng finished up 1.38 percent -- also a 13-month high -- and Singapore's Straits Times index broke a four-day losing streak. Australia posted a modest 0.08 percent rise for the S&P/ASX200, while New Zealand's Top 50 ended 1.22 percent higher at 2214.91, buoyed by a 2.2 percent gain for market heavyweight Telecom NZ. The PSE Composite in Manila finished down 2.1 percent after the central bank tightened monetary policy slightly. (Full story) The moves in Asia followed a stronger finish Thursday on Wall Street, where the tech-heavy Nasdaq rose 1 percent and the Dow industrial average put on 0.4 percent. (Full story) In Tokyo, tech-related issues were in demand, led by a 3.4 percent gain for tech bellwether Tokyo Electron and 2.3 percent for Advantest. Consumer electronics leader Sony rose 1.8 percent to 3840 yen, Hitachi was 2.2 percent ahead to 636 yen and Kyocera ended 4.4 percent higher to 7500 yen. Toshiba, NEC and Matsushita Electric Industrial were also in the black. But mobile phone giant NTT DoCoMo, the market's biggest stock, slipped 0.7 percent to 300,000 yen and automakers Toyota and Nissan also eased. Among banking stocks, MTFG, Japan's third-largest bank, fell 1.6 percent to 680,000 yen after gaining 9.3 percent since the start of the week. Mizuho was flat at 145,000 yen. Industrials were out of favor, with falls of 4.5 percent and 3.7 percent for JFE Holdings and Nippon Steel. Government data released before the opening showed Japan's industrial production rose 0.5 percent in July from a month earlier on a seasonally adjusted basis. (Full story) In Seoul, there were gains for big financial group Shinhan, up 4.2 percent to 16,000 won, and Hyundai Motor, up 3.7 percent to 39,200 won. Korea Exchange Bank, which is being bought by the investment fund Lone Star, put on another 6.5 percent to 5280 won. Market heavyweight Samsung Electronics, which hit a record high of 450,000 won on Thursday before closing at 438,000, finished down 0.7 percent to 435,000 won. Australia's S&P/ASX200 ended 0.08 percent higher to 3199.7. Telstra continued to rise, up 2 percent to A$5.02 after Thursday's profit result. (Full story) BHP Billiton, which also reported on Thursday, rose half a percent to A$10.93. (Full story) Insurer and fund manager AMP, the subject of a share buying raid this week by big bank NAB, surged 5 percent to A$6.67. (Full story) In Taiwan, the market's biggest stock, chip foundry TSMC, rose 2.3 percent to T$67.00, just below a one-year high seen on Thursday. Smaller rival UMC put on 6.5 percent to T$28.00. Hong Kong's Hang Seng index rose 1.38 percent to 10,908.99, a 13-month closing high. China Mobile ended 1 percent ahead to HK$20.05, while telco PCCW was down 1.6 percent to HK$4.52 after posting a first-half profit of HK$703 million. (Full story) In Singapore, shares ended a four-day losing streak with the Straits Times index ending up 0.36 percent at 1,599.25. The government on Friday unveiled a new spending package to stimulate the economy and offset changes to the city-state's pension scheme. Techs led gainers, with chipmaker Chartered Semiconductor rising 4.67 percent, while Venture Corp was up 1.51 percent to S$20.20.
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