Techs power Asia to higher close
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The dollar firmed a little Friday after falling below 106 yen earlier in the week.
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(CNN) -- Asian stocks powered ahead to close on a high Friday as investors drew inspiration from another tech rally on Wall Street.
South Korea led the way, with the Kospi up 2.5 percent to 20-month highs. Samsung Electronics surged 8 percent to a record high.
Japan and Taiwan also posted solid gains, and there were smaller rises in Australia and New Zealand.
Hong Kong and Singapore are both about 1 percent ahead near the close.
In Tokyo, the Nikkei 225 average jumped almost 1.2 percent to 10,965.05, its highest since October 21. At one point it touched 11,008.
The broader Topix index was up 0.84 percent to 1065.78.
Among techs, Toshiba surged almost 7 percent to 460 yen on optimism about a new hard disk drive it has developed.
NEC Electronics put on 5 percent, while Kyocera, Fujitsu and Hitachi all made gains of around 4 percent.
Matsushita Electric Industrial added 1.25 percent to 1545 yen after the big consumer electronics maker said Thursday it would restructure its Southeast Asian operations. (Full story)
Tech bellwether Advantest rose 3.65 percent to 9080 yen.
In the automotive sector, there were gains of 3.4 percent to 4810 yen for Honda, and 2.5 percent to 3710 yen for Toyota. Mitsubishi Motors jumped 14 percent, but Nissan was up just 0.16 percent.
Buyers returned to export-oriented shares that dipped earlier this week on the strong yen. Sony was up 3.4 percent to 3930 yen and Canon ended 3.3 percent ahead to 5210 yen.
The dollar is firmer at 107.06 yen, after touching a three-low low of 105.97 yen on Wednesday.
Big banks were lower, with falls of 1.4 percent for SMFG and 1.8 percent for MTFG. UFJ was off 1 percent to 510,000 yen and Mizuho slipped 0.9 percent to 325,000 yen.
Japan's market will be closed Monday for a national holiday.
In Seoul, the Kospi closed 2.56 percent higher to 845.27, with the market's biggest stock, Samsung Electronics, jumping 8.32 percent to a record high of 508,000 won.
That came on a rebound in memory chip prices. Samsung is also expected to post strong fourth-quarter results next week.
Leading financial group Shinhan was 2.5 percent ahead to 18,450 won. But Hyundai Motor slipped about 1 percent to 51,200 won.
In Taiwan, the Taiex closed 0.94 percent higher to 6226.98, building on the U.S. tech rally.
Chip foundry TSMC was 2.3 percent higher to T$67.50 and UMC was up 1.3 percent to T$31.60.
In Australia, the S&P/ASX200 dipped in afternoon trade to end just 0.11 percent ahead at 3301.6. Telstra continued to make ground, up 0.6 percent to A$4.98.
Resources stock BHP Billiton, which has slipped this week on lower commodity prices and a stronger Australian dollar, is down another 1 percent to A$11.79.
The Australian currency is trading at 77.42 U.S. cents, close to seven-year highs.
In Singapore, the Straits Times index is 0.8 percent ahead to 1856.32. Big bank DBS is up 2.5 percent.
SingTel is 1 percent higher to S$1.99, recovering a little of the ground lost earlier this week when majority shareholder Temasek said it would sell part of its stake. (Full story)
Hong Kong's Hang Seng index is 1 percent ahead to 1,333.97, a 30-month high. There are solid gains for China Mobile, PCCW, Hutchison Whampoa and big bank HSBC.
The moves in Asia followed a strong day on Wall Street, with the tech-heavy Nasdaq jumping 1.1 percent to its highest close since July 2001. The Dow Jones industrial average put on 0.6 percent. (Full story)
