Japan leads strong Asian close
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SK Telecom again closed higher after three directors offered to resign.
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TOKYO, Japan (CNN) -- Asian stocks have closed broadly higher Thursday, led by strong gains for Japan after Wall Street recovered from five straight days of losses.
In Tokyo, the Nikkei 225 average closed 1.47 percent higher at 10,815.29 -- close to Monday's four-week high.
The broader Topix index put on 1.3 percent to 1046.40. Japanese automakers and tech-related stocks were among the best gainers.
South Korea was the odd one out in the region, slipping about a quarter of a percent as six-way talks continue in Beijing on the North Korea nuclear issue.
Taiwan put on about three-quarters of a percent, Australia rose 0.42 percent and New Zealand finished with a small gain of 0.2 percent.
Singapore is up almost 0.8 percent heading towards the close, and Hong Kong is also higher.
Big exporters in Japan and South Korea made ground after the dollar firmed almost one yen overnight -- in part on comments by U.S. Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan that the U.S. economy was off to a strong start for the year.
In Tokyo, the dollar is trading at 108.8 yen late on Thursday afternoon, near a three-month high of 109.4 earlier in the week.
Kyocera led the way among Japanese tech-related stocks, jumping 3.72 percent to 8080 yen. Canon, NEC, Fujitsu and Hitachi also made gains, though Sony slipped 0.23 percent.
Tech bellwether Advantest rose 2.4 percent while Tokyo Electron was steady at 6550 yen. Mobile phone company NTT DoCoMo, which put on 2.2 percent on Wednesday, eased 0.44 percent to 224,000 yen.
Among big banks, SMFG did best, up 3.5 percent to 590,000 yen. Shinsei Bank eased to 808 yen.
As expected, the Bank of Japan decided to keep monetary policy unchanged Thursday.
But there was a surprise in Japan's retail sales data, which showed a rise of 1.3 percent in January from a year earlier.
Major automakers were all in the black, with Honda up 2 percent to 4670 yen, Nissan gaining 2.42 percent to 1187 yen and Toyota 2.2 percent higher to 3710 yen.
Takefuji Corp, Japan's biggest consumer finance firm and recently tainted by a wiretapping scandal, surged 9.33 percent to 7850 yen.
In Seoul, the Kospi finished 0.23 percent lower at 864.86.
SK Telecom ended 1.33 percent higher to 228,000 won, adding to Wednesday's gains after top executives convicted of fraud offered to leave the board. (Full story)
Market heavyweight Samsung Electronics rose 0.19 percent to 526,000 won. Big exporter Hyundai Motor put on 1.36 percent to 48,400 won.
In Australia, the S&P/ASX200 closed 0.42 percent higher at 3346.8.
Resources leader BHP Billiton was up 2 percent to A$12.25, while Qantas Airways lost 0.54 percent to A$3.71 after unveiling routes and prices Wednesday for its low-cost carrier Jetstar. (Full story)
Taiwan's Taiex closed 0.74 percent higher to 6693.25, buoyed by gains for industrials and techs. Chip foundry TSMC jumped 3.25 percent to T$63.50 and UMC rose 0.6 percent to T$30.30.
In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng index is up 0.4 percent to 13,656.57 near the close. Big bank HSBC is steady, but China Mobile and Hutchison Whampoa are higher.
Singapore's Straits Times index is up about 0.8 percent to 1883.81. DBS and SingTel are showing solid gains.
The moves in Asia followed a recovery on Wall Street Wednesday after five days of losses. The tech-heavy Nasdaq rose 0.87 percent. (Full story)
