Asian stocks held their ground on Friday, managing solid gains despite a fresh spike in oil prices which undercut Wall Street and a disappointing business confidence survey in Japan, dealers said.
They said sentiment was cautiously optimistic, steadying after the upset caused by last week's surprise inflation warning from the US Federal Reserve on the view that the sell-off on that count may have been overdone. This allowed a measured bounce-back on Thursday and Friday as investors waited for the key US March employment report, due later in the day, which could decide the issue one way or the other.
A strong jobs report would confirm fears the Fed will hike interest rates faster and further than previously thought.
Conversely, a weak report would ease those concerns but raise others that the region's main export market might be slowing.
On the day, the Chinese markets outperformed, with Shanghai A-shares up 3.59 percent in a technical rebound driven once more by speculation the government would unveil more measures to support stocks. Of the majors, Seoul did best with a gain of 1.68 percent while Tokyo put on 0.47 percent even as the central bank's Tankan survey showed business confidence at large manufacturers falling back sharply.
Share prices in Taiwan closed 0.38 percent higher, building on Thursday's gains as bargain-hunting in the key electronics sector offset early losses due to Wall Street's overnight downturn, dealers said.
The pick-up, however, came in cautious trade as the market waited for the key US march employment report due out later in the day for a clear lead on the outlook for US interest rates and the dollar.
The TAIEX closed up 22.87 points at 6,028.75, off a low of 5,959.28 and a high of 6,028.99, on turnover of NT$74.43 billion (US$2.36 billion).
Japanese share prices closed 0.47 percent higher on bargain-hunting, recovering from early losses triggered by a weaker-than-expected central bank business confidence survey, dealers said.
While some aspects of the Bank of Japan survey disappointed, analysts noted it had not swayed the consensus view the economy remained in a period of levelling off ahead of an expected recovery.
The Tokyo Stock Exchange's benchmark NIKKEI-225 index rose 54.68 points to 11,723.63, off a low of 11,557.13. The broader TOPIX index of all first section shares gained 4.32 points or 0.37 percent to 1,186.50.
South Korean share prices closed 1.68 percent higher, shaking off initial weakness on Wall Street's losses overnight as foreign and institutional investors funds snapped up stocks after the recent downturn, dealers said. The KOSPI index closed up 16.22 points at 981.90, just short of the high of 982.49.
Hong Kong share prices closed 0.19 percent weaker following a fresh spike in crude oil prices and falls on Wall Street overnight but gains in H-shares and select blue chips helped trim the losses, dealers said.
The Hang Seng Index closed down 25.53 points at 13,491.35, off a low of 13,397.60 and high of 13,518.63. The Hang Seng China Enterprises Index was up 73.80 points or 1.54 percent at 4,866.57.
Chinese share prices closed sharply higher, adding 3.59 percent on bargain-hunting and talk of long-awaited government market-boosting policies to be announced on the weekend, dealers said.
The Shanghai A-share Index added 44.44 points to 1,283.71, while the Shenzhen A-share Index was up 11.39 points or 3.73 percent at 317.04.
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