Asian stocks rose amid expectations computer-related companies will provide higher profit forecasts next week after increased earnings from Fujitsu Ltd and Chartered Semiconductor Manufacturing Ltd.
"High expectations of earnings are prompting investors to jump into the market and buy their shares," said Makoto Sakuma, who helps manage US$3.6 billion at Asahi Life Asset Management Co in Tokyo. "There are enough indications that the outlook for technology companies is improving."
The Morgan Stanley Capital International Asia-Pacific Index rose 1.1 percent to close at 95.76. The index gained 0.7 percent this week and has climbed 67 percent since falling to the lowest in its 17-year history on April 28 last year.
The Nikkei 225 Stock Average rose 1.2 percent to 12,120.66, while the broader Topix index added 0.3 percent to 1209.62. The Topix rose 1.1 percent this week, its sixth week of advance and the longest string of gains since July 4.
China's stock indexes fell to 12-week lows, led by travel and tourism-related companies, after the health ministry reported two confirmed SARS case and a possible death from the disease.
Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index rose 1.8 percent, ending a seven-day drop. All other Asian benchmarks advanced, except for Thailand's SET Index.
Fujitsu, Japan's top supplier of computer servers, jumped 9.2 percent, the biggest gain since Sept. 18, to ¥715 yen. The company had group net income of about ¥101 billion (US$922 million) in the three months ended March 31, up from ¥50.3 billion a year ago, as it sold more data storage and other electronics devices. The results are preliminary.
UFJ Tsubasa Securities Ltd raised its recommendation on Fujitsu to "strong outperformer" from "average." Kyocera Gains Kyocera Corp, the world's top maker of ceramic packaging to protect finished microchips, added 4.2 percent to ¥9,610. It expects operating profit to climb 24 percent for the year ending March 31 next year as ceramic and electronic sales rise, the Nihon Keizai Shimbun reported, without saying where it obtained the information. The company will report results next week.
Asian technology companies are expecting higher earnings because of soaring demand for digital products such as camera-equipped mobile phones, flat-screen TVs and audio players, as well as reviving demand for computer hardware and software.
Chartered Semiconductor was unchanged at S$1.68, after rising as much as 3 percent. The world's No. 3 provider of made-to-order chips said first-quarter profit was US$1.9 million compared with a loss a year ago. The company was expected to lose US$6 million, the median estimate in a Bloomberg survey of seven analysts showed.
South Korea's Samsung Electronics Co, which reported record profit last week, advanced 2.7 percent to a record 637,000 won.
In the US, the Standard & Poor's 500 Index added 0.5 percent for the week, the first weekly gain in three weeks. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.2 percent, while the NASDAQ Composite Index added 2.7 percent for the week.
US Coattails Microsoft Corp. jumped 6.1 percent to US$27.54 in trading after the close of US exchanges. The company said it expects to earn US$1.31 to US$1.33 a share for the year ending June next year, excluding costs for employee stock options. That's higher than the average forecast of US$1.28 in a Thomson Financial survey.
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