Nikkei:10,842.80 (+6.16) Hang Seng:23,595.24 (+293.40) Shanghai Comp:2,899.98 (–26.99)
HONG KONG stocks rose yesterday, posting their biggest weekly returns in three months.
Chinese financial counters and index heavyweight HSBC Holdings were the biggest boost to the market. Insurance company Ping An jumped 3.6 per cent after it reported strong premium growth for January.
Bucking the broader up trend, BYD Co, the Chinese car-maker, fell 2.1 per cent after it said it would cut car prices by up to 19 per cent to lift market share.
On the Shanghai Composite index, Petrochina, the largest company by market capitalisation, fell 1 per cent.
Japan’s Nikkei stock average ended marginally higher to extend gains into a fifth day. Energy and commodities stocks, such as Japan’s biggest oil and gas developer Inpex, outperformed as turmoil in the Middle East sent the price of oil higher. Inpex gained 1.4 per cent to 587,000 yen.
Shares in electronics-maker JVC Kenwood extended gains, climbing 5.8 per cent to 438 yen, after the firm’s CEO told Reuters it hoped to lift a warning about its viability as a going concern at the end of the current financial year next month. – (Reuters)
