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Asian markets surge into the black
TOKYO, Japan (CNN) -- Asian markets ended a volatile week with strong gains Friday, building on the healthy performances of Wall Street and Europe, and the Japanese government's latest share support plan. The Nikkei 225 average, which set a fresh 20-year closing low of 7862.43 on Tuesday, finished the day with a rise of 1.7 percent to 8002.69. It was only the second time in the week that it closed above 8000 points. The broader Topix showed a more modest rise, putting on 0.97 percent to 786.06. Taiwan was the region's best performer, with a gain of 2.2 percent, reflecting a broad advance in its techs and industrials. Markets in Australia and South Korea followed suit, with gains of 2 percent and 1.1 percent respectively. Hong Kong surged almost 2 percent higher, and Singapore's Straits Times finished up 1.55 percent. In Tokyo, Japanese blue chips led the way, Toyota putting on 1.29 percent to 2740 yen and Honda up 1.51 percent to 4030 yen. Nissan surged 3.45 percent to 810 yen. Big exporters welcomed a rise in the dollar to a two-week high against the yen of 118.25. Sony jumped 4.38 percent to 4290 yen after touching a 17-month low earlier in the week. Other consumer and tech-related stocks were also higher, with Matsushita Electric Industrial up 2.5 percent to 1071 yen and Kyocera advancing 6.03 percent to 6150 yen. Toshiba, Fujitsu and NEC were among the big gainers, up more than 3 percent. The market's biggest stock, NTT DoCoMo, jumped 4.29 percent to 219,000 yen. Tech bellwether Advantest surged 8.35 percent to 4800 yen and Tokyo Electron rose 6.72 percent to 4920 yen. But Sanyo Electric managed a gain of just 0.32 percent to 309 yen, ahead of a revised earnings forecast that saw the company slash its full-year outlook to a net loss of 70 billion yen (Full story) Support plan
Japanese stocks were given a boost Friday by the support plan unveiled late Thursday by the Financial Services Agency (FSA). The plan makes it easier for companies to buy back their own shares and the FSA says it will discourage short-selling as part of the package. (Full story) Bank stocks were mixed, with Mizuho and UFJ both down more about 4 percent but Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group up 2.24 percent to 228,000 yen. Mitsubishi Tokyo Financial Group finished 1.29 percent higher at 471,000 yen. Among industrials, Nippon Steel rose 5.07 percent to 145 yen. Despite Friday's gain, the Nikkei average has fallen heavily from its one-year high of 12,081 in late May last year. On Thursday it closed at 7,868.56, down 0.94 percent on the day and just six points away from Tuesday's 20-year closing low. U.S., Europe rallyU.S. and European markets rallied strongly on Thursday after a run of losses that saw Europe reach six-year lows. In London the FTSE jumped more than 6 percent on hopes that diplomacy might be given more time to reach a peaceful solution over Iraq. In the U.S. the Dow Jones industrial average put on 3.57 percent and the tech-heavy Nasdaq rose 4.81 percent. (Full story) In Australia, where the S&P/ASX200 reached a fresh four-year low on Thursday, the market bounced back on Friday. The index closed 1.95 percent higher at 2753.1. Media giant News Corp, the market's biggest stock, rose 5.24 percent to A$10.25 on the better U.S. performance. Big resources groups BHP Billiton and Rio Tinto both had strong gains of 4 percent -plus. Banks were also higher, as was widely held telco Telstra, up 2.25 percent to A$4.09. Insurer and funds manager AMP, which has seen its stock tumble over the past 12 months on FTSE-linked losses, was the day's big mover, up 12.4 percent to A$7.25.
In South Korea, the Kospi rose 1.1 percent to 537.65, with big-cap Samsung Electronics up 2.24 percent to 296,500 won and leading exporter Hyundai Motor 2.61 percent higher at 23,600 won. Steelmaker POSCO added 2.08 percent to 98,000 won after naming president Lee Ku-taek as its new chairman. Yoo Sang-boo resigned Thursday as chairman. (Full story) In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng index ended up 1.92 percent at 8,956.17, a gain of 0.55 percent on the week. Conglomerate Hutchison Whampoa rose 3.55 percent to HK$43.80, while the territory's largest property developer Sun Hung Kai Properties Ltd climbed 1.75 percent. HSBC (up 2.15 percent) and other big banks firmed. Mobile phone companies China Unicom and China Mobile jumped 4.02 percent and 1.89 percent respectively. In Taiwan, the Taiex rose 2.22 percent to 4476.17. The market's biggest stock, TSMC, added 3.17 percent to T$45.50. Singapore's Straits Times index ended 1.55 percent higher at 1250.88, with solid gains for Singapore Airlines, SingTel and bank DBS. New Zealand's Top 50 finished up 1.3 percent to 1898.45. Telecom NZ rose 1.44 percent to NZ$4.22.
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