Asian equities on Friday rose for the 10th time in 11 days, shrugging off US declines as the yen snapped an eight-day streak of gains.
Banking and consumer stocks led the advance as earnings season continued in Hong Kong.
The MSCI Asia Pacific Index rose 0.3 percent to 148.11, extending a rebound that has retraced about half of Wednesday’s 1.3 percent loss. The index is slightly down from last week’s 148.31.
Shares in Taiwan fell after moving in a narrow band throughout the trading session amid concerns over stiff technical resistance ahead of the 10,000 point mark, dealers said.
The weighted index on the Taiwan Stock Exchange closed down 27.76 points, or 0.3 percent, at 9,902.98.
The index is down 0.06 percent from last week’s 9,908.69 points.
Japan’s TOPIX and Australia’s benchmark gauge on Friday added 0.8 percent each, while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index climbed 0.1 percent.
Most sectors in Hong Kong lost ground, with resource stocks leading the declines.
Shares in China Huishan Dairy Holdings (中國輝山乳業) plunged 85 percent before trade was halted. It was not immediately clear what triggered the slide.
In December last year, US-based short-seller Muddy Waters questioned the firm’s profits and said it had inflated spending on its cattle farms to artificially raise capital expenditure figures.
CNOOC Ltd (中國海洋石油) jumped 3.9 percent in Hong Kong as the oil giant gave more information on its reserve base and announced a higher-than-expected dividend.
The stock was upgraded at CICC, Macquarie and JPMorgan.
In Tokyo, Fukuoka Financial Group Inc rose 1.2 percent as analysts upgraded the stock following a writedown of goodwill.
Toshiba Corp jumped 7.6 percent after a hedge fund became the embattled conglomerate’s biggest shareholder.
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng China Enterprises Index slipped 0.1 percent while the Shanghai Composite Index gained 0.6 percent.
Japan’s Nikkei 225 rose 0.9 percent while South Korea’s KOSPI lost 0.2 percent.
Singapore’s Straits Times Index added 0.5 percent.
FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI was little changed and the Jakarta Composite Index lost 0.2 percent, while the Philippine Stock Exchange Index retreated 0.4 percent.
Additional reporting by CNA
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