MW: Hong Kong, Seoul rise for fourth straight session
By V. Phani Kumar, MarketWatch
HONG KONG (MarketWatch) -- Most Asian markets advanced Friday, with Hong Kong and South Korean shares taking gains into a fourth straight session, paced by banks as investors snapped up beaten-down lenders such as Industrial Bank of Korea and HSBC Holdings.
Japanese shares hovered around break-even Friday in the absence of indicators from Wall Street and on data showing the country's industrial production fell by a more-than-expected 3.1% in October.
U.S. markets were closed overnight for a holiday.
The Nikkei 225 Average rose 0.7% to 8,433.31 in the afternoon while the Topix index dropped 0.3% to 831.27.
In Tokyo, shares of Panasonic Corp. tumbled 10.7% a day after the consumer electronics company slashed its annual net profit forecast, saying business conditions were "deteriorating sharply."
In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng Index rose 2% to 13,820.81 and the Hang Seng China Enterprises Index climbed 2% to 7,263.95.
China's Shanghai Composite slipped 1.2% to 1,894.36 as investors worried about the weakening economic conditions that forced the central bank to slash lending rates as well as banks' reserve requirements earlier this week.
Australia's S&P/ASX 200 advanced 2.7% to 3,683.20, South Korea's Kospi rose 1% to 1,074.22 and New Zealand's NZX 50 index climbed 0.6% to 2,685.93.
Singapore's Straits Times Index fell 1.2% to 1,690.64 and Taiwan's Taiex dipped 0.2% 4,444.70.
Financial stocks broadly extended gains on bargain buying in the beaten-down sector, with Industrial Bank of Korea shares jumping 4.9% and KB Financial Group rising 2% in Seoul.
In Hong Kong, shares of Industrial & Commercial Bank of China, or ICBC, climbed 1.8%, while market heavyweight HSBC Holdings added 1.2%.
Banking shares, however, skidded on mainland China, with ICBC dropping 2.8% and Bank of Communications sliding 4.9%.
In Asian currency trading, the U.S. dollar bought 95.27 yen, compared with 95.04 yen late Thursday.
In energy trading, January crude-oil futures slipped 64 cents to $53.80 a barrel in electronic trading from its previous close at $54.44 Wednesday on the New York Mercantile Exchange.
