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Japan, Asian markets power ahead
(CNN) -- Asian markets powered ahead Thursday, the Nikkei shaking off Wall Street's mild downturn to close at a 13-month high. South Korea, Hong Kong and Taiwan also finished at their best in a year or more. Big Japanese and Korean exporters such as Toyota, Sony, Hyundai Motor and Samsung Electronics led the way on optimism about U.S. demand. After an early fall into the red, the Nikkei 225 average closed up 0.69 percent to 10,362.69, its highest level since July 2002. The broader Topix index put on 0.85 percent to 1009.58, also a 13-month high. South Korea did best in the region, up more than 2.3 percent. Taiwan added 1.23 percent and Hong Kong's Hang Seng index finished 1.6 percent ahead to 10,643.63, its best since July 2002. Singapore rose 1.45 percent to 1,635.34. Australia added a more modest 0.11 percent -- still enough to hit a one-year closing high -- as airline Qantas jumped 6 percent. New Zealand, which was closed for much of Wednesday because of a technical hitch, finished down 0.85 percent. The moves in Asia came after the Dow Jones industrial average lost 0.3 percent on Wednesday, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq closed flat. (Full story) In Tokyo, there was strong buying for big banks, industrials and some technology stocks. Banking giant Mizuho was up 7.8 percent to 138,000 yen and SMFG ended 3.5 percent higher at 378,000 yen. The market's biggest stock, mobile phone company NTT DoCoMo, put on 2.6 percent to 315,000 yen. Japan Telecom ended 0.55 percent higher to 368,000 yen, ahead of details on the Vodafone unit's expected sale to U.S. fund Ripplewood. (Full story) Key auto exporter Toyota was up 3 percent to 3410 yen, and rival Nissan was 1.34 percent higher to 1288 yen. But Honda closed unchanged at 4930 yen. Among tech-related issues, consumer electronics leader Sony ended 1 percent higher to 3830 yen and Hitachi was up 1.5 percent to 604 yen. But there were falls for Toshiba and Matsushita Electric Industrial. The Nikkei has risen more than 10 percent in the last nine trading days, falling only once -- last Friday. In Australia, the benchmark S&P/ASX 200 ended at 3174.9, continuing its strong recent run. Leading airline Qantas soared 6.45 percent to A$3.30 after its full year profit fell 20 percent but met market expectations. (Full story) The market's biggest stock, media group News Corp, was down 0.3 percent to A$12.48. Life insurer and fund manager AMP ended down another 2.4 percent to A$4.50 in the wake of Wednesday's A$2.16 billion first-half loss and doubts about its demerger plan. (Full story) Australian Gas Light fell 2.8 percent to A$10.71, after doubling net profit to A$295 million. (Full story) Global packager Amcor rose 1.7 percent to A$8.76 after lifting annual profit 36 percent. (Full story) In Seoul, the Kospi closed 2.33 percent higher to 754.34, back to its highest since September last year. Samsung Electronics continued its record run, up another 1.5 percent to 441,500 won. Big exporter Hyundai Motor soared 7.7 percent to 38,150 won as optimism rises about demand in the United States. Kookmin Bank was up 5.5 percent and Shinhan closed 3.6 percent ahead. In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng index finished 1.61 percent higher to 10,643.63, with gains of 1.8 percent for China Mobile and 1.4 percent for big conglomerate Hutchison Whampoa. HSBC closed up 1 percent to HK$100.50. Taiwan's Taiex closed up 1.23 percent to a fresh 14-month high of 5611.86. There were solid rises for industrials China Steel and Taiwan Cement, while some techs were softer. Market heavyweight TSMC rose 1.6 percent to T$64.00. Singapore's Straits Times index rose to 13-month highs, jumping 1.45 percent to 1,635.34, with strong gains for DBS.
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