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Japan's winning run ends
(CNN) -- Asian markets ended mixed on Friday, with Tokyo down from Thursday's 13-month highs despite a strong finish on Wall Street. The Nikkei snapped a four-day winning streak to close 0.79 percent lower at 10,281.17, after going as high as 10,378 earlier in the day. The broader Topix was off 0.53 percent to 1004.20, with Toyota losing more than 3 percent. Both the Nikkei and Topix had closed Thursday at their highest levels since July 2002. Hong Kong's Hang Seng finished strongly, adding 1.1 percent to finish at 10,760.73, its highest in 13 months. Taiwan was one of the best in the region, the Taiex putting on another 0.62 percent to a fresh 14-month high. There were modest gains for Australia. In Seoul, the Kospi rose slightly, adding another 0.05 percent to extend Thursday's 13-month high. New Zealand slipped 0.16 percent and Singapore is flat heading towards the close. The moves in Asia followed gains on Wall Street, where the tech-heavy Nasdaq put on 1 percent Thursday. The Dow added 0.28 percent to 9423.68. (Full story) In Tokyo, consumer electronics leader Sony finished up 0.5 percent to 3850 yen, but automakers Toyota, Nissan and Honda were all sharply in the red. Honda and Nissan both fell about 1.7 percent . Most techs were also weaker, with a fall of 1.8 percent for Kyocera, 2.2 percent for Canon and 1.1 percent for Hitachi. But NEC eked out a gain of 0.12 percent to 857 yen. The market's biggest stock, NTT DoCoMo, slipped 1.3 percent to 311,000 yen. Rival Japan Telecom, the center of a $2.2 billion buyout by U.S. fund Ripplewood, ended unchanged at 368,000 yen. (Full story) Some of the big banks were again higher, with Mizuho Holdings up 1.45 percent to 140,000 yen and a 1 percent gain for MTFG. Big retailer Ito-Yokado had one of the day's best gains, up 7.5 percent to 3450 yen. One positive indicator for Japan's economy came with the release Friday of the all-industries activity index, a barometer of conditions in sectors such as construction and manufacturing. It rose a higher than expected 0.9 percent in June from the previous month, the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry said. (Full story) In South Korea, the Kospi ended up 0.05 percent at 754.72. That followed a confirmation from the central Bank of Korea that Asia's fourth-largest economy slipped into recession in the second quarter, after two straight quarters of contraction. (Full story) Samsung Electronics continued to hit record highs, up 1 percent to 446,000 won. Big exporter Hyundai Motor rose 2.2 percent to 39,000 won. Big banks Kookmin and Shinhan gave up some of Thursday's gains. Australia's S&P/ASX200 rose 0.3 percent to 3184.4. Big resources group BHP Billiton finished up 1.6 percent to A$10.62 and rival Rio Tinto was 2.6 percent higher to A$33.86. Amcor continued to gain after Thursday's strong profit result, up 2.1 percent to A$8.95. Qantas Airways, which jumped 6 percent Thursday, eased 1.2 percent to A$3.26. Big banks were mainly lower. In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng index rose 1.1 percent to 10,760.73, with gains of 2.3 percent for China Mobile and 2.2 percent for big conglomerate Hutchison Whampoa, which reported a $778 million first half result on Thursday. (Full story) HSBC closed unchanged at HK$100.50. Taiwan's Taiex closed up 0.62 percent to 5646.62, a 14-month high. Chip foundry UMC was up 0.8 percent to T$25.80 and market heavyweight TSMC was unchanged at T$64.00. Singapore's Straits Times index is flat at 1636.82, trending slightly above Thursday's 13-month high. DBS Bank is 0.8 percent ahead but there are falls for Singapore Airlines and SingTel.
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