Asian stocks still wary of dollar
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Japanese tech stocks had a mixed day Friday, with Toshiba flat and Sony down.
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(CNN) -- Asian stocks finished on a conservative note after a week dominated by concerns over the weakening dollar and its impact on the region's key exporters.
Australia, Singapore and Taiwan posted gains Friday, but Japan had a split result, with the Nikkei just in the black and the Topix down.
South Korea and Hong Kong fell, as did New Zealand.
The week's roller-coaster sentiment was also driven strongly by Wall Street.
The Dow Jones reached a 31-month high at the beginning of the week and then slid back after the Federal Reserve kept the 1 per cent interest rate at a four-decade low but indicated it could go up in the medium term.
New Zealand lifted its cash rate to 5.25 percent midweek, and the Australian central bank is expected to make a similar move next week.
Tokyo stocks were dominated Friday by key results of the local bluechips.
The Nikkei 225 average was largely unmoved but at least resisted a fifth consecutive day of decline.
By end of trade Friday, it was up only 0.04 percent at 10,783.61 points after slipping 0.67 percent in the previous session.
The Topix index of all first-section issues slipped 0.25 percent to 1047.51.
Honda announced a surprising 1.4 percent rise in quarterly operating profit, weathering a sinking dollar and weak sales at home and in its most crucial U.S. market.
Operating profit for October-December was 161.13 billion yen ($1.52 billion), compared with an average forecast by seven analysts of 145.9 billion yen. Net profit jumped 31 percent to 151.05 billion yen.
Shares in tech firms NEC, Canon and Fujitsu all edged down, even though they posted strong profits on Thursday, driven by demand for flat-screen TVs, digital cameras and other gadgets.
Video game maker Nintendo weighed on the market, tumbling 9.55 percent to 10,130 yen after it cut its full-year profit estimate by 10 percent Thursday, hurt by a strong yen and weak demand for its game consoles.
The South Korean Kospi index was down after an initial gain, falling 0.58 percent to close at 848.50.
Earlier, its Finance Ministry release figures showing the domestic economy is bouncing back quickly.(See full story)
SK Telecom, one of the Kopsi bluechips, tripled its quarterly earnings, according to a company statement Friday.
It earned a net 430 billion won ($366.9 million) compared with 163 billion won in the same period last year. (See full story)
Hong Kong's Hang Seng index shed 0.36 percent to be close on 13286.12.
Earlier, China's No. 2 television and cellphone maker, TCL Group, said Friday a new joint venture with French electronics maker Thomson SA was worth an estimated 450 million euros ($558.5 million).
The venture, first announced in November, will create the world's largest television maker.
TCL-Thomson Electronics would be 67 percent owned by TCL Group's Hong Kong-listed unit, TCL International Holdings, and the rest would be held by Thomson, the company said in a statement.
The Taiex was Asia's most aggressive market, moving up 0.99 percent to 6375.38. However, Formosa Plastic struggled for a second day, losing 1.77 percent of its value.
A small rebound was evident in Australia, where the benchmark S&P/ASX 200 index closed the week by rising 0.23 percent to 3272.
Bellwether resource stocks BHP Billiton and Rio Tinto lost some of the healthy gains achieved in early trade. BHP finished 0.18 percent higher at A$11.29 while Rio Tinto was 0.71 percent higher at A$35.68.
The New Zealand Top 50 Index dropped 0.58 percent to close at 2471.50 with Air New Zealand the biggest loser around the region.
It shed 12.24 percent to stand at NZ42c after managing director Ralph Morris revealed Friday that 200 institutional investors bought 7.8 per cent of stock in one day when long-term shareholder BIL International offloaded its shares Thursday.
Trading in the stock on the New Zealand and Australian stock exchanges was suspended Thursday to allow the disposal of BIL's 229 million shares, which went at NZ42c share, a 14 percent discount on its closing price the previous night.
In the United States Thursday, the Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 0.40 per cent to 10,510.29, while the Nasdaq composite fell 0.44 per cent to 2068.23. The S&P 500 gained 5.63 points to 1134.11.
