Stocks around the region also gained after a report showed the US added 248,000 workers to payrolls last month. Economists surveyed by Bloomberg had expected payrolls would rise by 225,000, based on the median forecast.
The US job report "shows we've entered the stage of the economic recovery with employment," said Jeong Jong Hyeon, who helps manage US$1 billion at CJ Investment Trust Management Co in Seoul. "That's supporting exporters' shares with prospects of stable growth of their sales to the developed markets."
Mitsui Mining & Smelting Co, Japan's largest maker of copper foil, was the third-best performer on the MSCI index in the week just ended.
The company raised its full-year profit forecast by a fifth, citing higher shipment volumes of copper foil. The announcement prompted analysts at Mitsubishi Securities Co and Mizuho Securities Co to lift their ratings for the stock.
Singapore Land Ltd, a landlord in the city's financial district, posted its biggest weekly jump in four years, surging 14 percent. The stock climbed on speculation United Industrial Corp may take the company private after it declared in a stock exchange filing that its indirect holding in Singapore Land had risen to 71 percent, some traders said.
Johnson Electric, which gets more than a 10th of its sales from North America, added 9.7 percent. Shares of the world's second-biggest maker of mini-motors also gained after the company said full-year profit fell less than it expected. Morgan Stanley boosted its 12-month share-price forecast for the stock.
Samsung Electronics Co and LG Electronics Inc paced the drop in South Korea's Kospi index, on concern prices of liquid crystal display monitors may fall and after government reports showed consumer and manufacturers' confidence dropped.
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