Asian stocks closed mostly higher on Friday with high-tech shares winning investor support on the back of further gains on the NASDAQ on Wall Street.
Continued modest gains by the Dow Jones Industrial Average and near record high oil prices also impacted on sentiment with Australia outperforming, rising 1.16 percent to a fresh record high.
Japan made solid gains on hopes of more foreign investors entering its market, Indonesia extended its highs amid hopes of improved dividend payments and Philippines strengthened on brighter economic prospects.
Elsewhere, Hong Kong scored a technical bounce but across the territory's border Shanghai was flat. Thailand was also flat after regulators announced they were investigating possible market manipulation.
In Taipei, share prices rose another 0.18 percent to close at their high for the year in active trade, but profit-taking on the recent upturn trimmed some of the early gains.
Dealers said the performance was encouraging, especially since the key electronics sector can be expected to do better still going into the third quarter as seasonal demand kicks in.
The TAIEX rose 11.15 points from Thursday to 6,293.56 on turnover of NT$111.06 billion (US$3.53 billion).
For the week ending Friday, the TAIEX gained 101.21 points or 1.63 percent, following a 1.38 percent gain the previous week.
Average daily turnover stood at NT$87.37 billion, up from NT$85.98 billion dollars a week earlier.
In Tokyo, share prices closed 0.86 percent higher after strong indicators this week for the local economy and expectations of more foreign investor participation.
On Friday, the government said Japan's index of leading economic indicators for April was revised up to 31.8 points from a preliminary reading of 25 while on Wednesday it raised its assessment of the economy for the first time in almost a year.
The NIKKEI-225 index rose 97.65 points to 11,514.03 on volume of 1.7 billion shares, up from 1.57 billion on Thursday.
Share prices in Seoul closed little changed, with news of a meeting between North Korean leader Kim Jong-Il and a senior southern official bolstering sentiment and helping to offset retail investor profit-taking.
The KOSPI index closed up 0.54 points at 1,003.68.
Hong Kong share prices closed 0.57 percent higher on a rebound after Thursday's falls, with the strong response to Bank of Communication's initial public offering (IPO) supporting sentiment.
The Hang Seng Index closed up 78.50 points at 13,912.03.
Shanghai share prices closed flat, with sentiment hit by a fresh spike in oil prices and concerns recent strong data might prompt the authorities to take more measures to cool the economy down. The Shanghai A-share Index shed 0.15 points to 1,140.18, while the Shenzhen A-share Index was down 1.0 points or 0.36 percent at 271.63.
The benchmark Shanghai Composite Index, which covers both A and B-shares, shed 0.40 points at 1,085.61.
Resources stocks helped Australian share prices to close at record highs with a gain of 1.16 percent, boosted by sentiment that strong Chinese demand for basic minerals and fuels will continue. The SP/ASX index rose 49.4 points to a record 4,312.2.
Shares prices in Singapore closed 0.29 percent higher, but early gains were capped by figures showing key non-oil domestic exports fell for the first time since mid-2002. The Straits Times Index rose 6.41 points to 2,209.15, off a high of 2,215.18.
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