Asian equities on Friday capped a second week of gains as Japanese stocks advanced to the highest in 21 months, with sentiment boosted by a slew of economic data that was better than expected and after US equity benchmarks closed at record highs on Thursday.
The MSCI Asia Pacific Index gained 1 percent to 154.57 as of 4:18pm in Hong Kong.
The benchmark gauge has climbed 1.2 percent this week, adding on to its 1.3 percent advance the week before.
The weighted index on the Taiwan Stock Exchange yesterday ended up 5.62 points, or 0.06 percent, at 10,158.15 in an extra session to make up for the Dragon Boat Festival holiday last month.
The TAIEX is up 0.06 percent from last week’s 10,101.95.
Japan’s TOPIX breached the 1,600-point mark and the Nikkei 225 Stock Average surpassed 20,000 for the first time since December 2015 as the yen weakened for a second day.
Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group Inc gained 4.4 percent, leading a gauge of financial shares.
Nine out of 11 industry groups in the regional benchmark climbed, while a measure of telecommunication companies was the worst performer.
In the US on Thursday, the Dow Jones Industrial Average and S&P 500 Index set new closing highs as private US hiring figures and manufacturing data that beat estimates bolstered confidence in the global economy.
“With overnight markets notching new highs from the latest economic data, Asian markets could draw inspiration and find more synchronized gains into the end of the week,” said Jingyi Pan (潘婧怡), a Singapore-based market strategist for IG Asia Pte Ltd.
South Korea’s KOSPI rallied 1.2 percent, while Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 Index added 0.9 percent.
The Asian benchmark gauge has risen 15 percent this year, driven by prospects for economic growth.
China’s official factory gauge released this week held up last month, adding to signs that the economy has maintained some of its first-quarter momentum.
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng and Hang Seng China Enterprises indices each rose 0.4.
The Shanghai Composite Index edged up 0.1 percent.
Singapore’s Straits Times Index was little changed, while the Philippine Stock Exchange Index lost 0.3 percent.
FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI added 0.7 percent and Thailand’s SET Index gained 0.3 percent.
Vietnam’s VN Index retreated 0.4 percent and the Jakarta Composite Index slipped 0.1 percent.
New Zealand’s NZX and India’s SENSEX each gained 0.5 percent.
Additional reporting by CNA
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