Asian stocks rose to a six-month high on Friday, with the regional index on course for its best weekly advance in two months, as financial shares led gains.
Ping An Insurance (Group) Co (中國平安保險集團), China’s second-biggest insurer, rose to the highest in more than four years in Hong Kong after saying profit jumped 40 percent last year.
Nippon Yusen K.K. rose 1.1 percent as gains at Japanese shipping companies pushed the TOPIX to its longest weekly winning streak in two years.
The MSCI Asia Pacific Index added 0.1 percent to 146.97 as of 4:11pm in Hong Kong on Friday. The measure, which closed on Friday at its highest since Sept. 9, climbed 2.1 percent this week after the US Federal Reserve said data suggest US economic growth has moderated and officials indicated interest rates would rise at a slower pace than previously forecast.
“Asian equity bourses have had very flat moves today [Friday],” said Chris Weston, Melbourne-based strategist at IG Ltd, which provides trading services in equities, currencies and commodities.
This week “bad news meant good news for equity bulls and, as we have learnt time and time again, liquidity trumps economic improvement,” he said.
While policymakers at the Fed ponder when to begin raising interest rates, the European Central Bank and Bank of Japan continue with stimulus programs aimed at staving off deflation and igniting growth. Central banks from Australia to South Korea have reduced borrowing costs this year as part of a global wave of monetary easing.
Japan’s TOPIX added 0.3 percent. South Korea’s KOSPI index was little changed and Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 Index added 0.4 percent.
In Taipei, the TAIEX closed higher on Friday after hitting a seven-year high above 9,700 points on Thursday.
The weighted index ended the day up 12.96 points, or 0.13 percent, at 9,749.69, on turnover of NT$121.2 billion (US$3.85 billion).
While the performance of large-cap stocks varied, Catcher Technology Co (可成), a metal casing supplier to Apple Inc, closed up at NT$324, while Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (鴻海精密), the world’s largest contract electronics maker, rose to NT93.50, the highest level in more than three months.
Many publicly traded firms plan to release next week their financial statements for last year, which could boost investor sentiment, especially for electronics stocks, dealers said.
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index slipped 0.4 percent, while New Zealand’s NZX 50 Index rose 0.2 percent.
The Shanghai Composite Index climbed 1 percent to its highest level since 2008. Combined trading values on the Shanghai and Shenzhen stock exchanges surpassed 1 trillion yuan (US$161 billion) every day for the past three days, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.
Elsewhere in the region, Mumbai fell 0.73 percent, Kuala Lumpur closed down 0.3 percent and Bangkok edge down 0.14 percent. Manila and Jakarta closed flat, while Singapore rose 0.78 percent.
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