By V. Phani Kumar
HONG KONG (MarketWatch) -- Asian markets traded mixed Friday, with shares of exporters such as Canon Inc. and Samsung Electronics Co. fueling gains in Japan and South Korea, while Shanghai and Hong Kong shares slid lower as investors took took profits in property developers. Most markets stayed in a narrow range on caution, as a meeting of finance ministers and central bankers from the Group of 20 nations began in Seoul. Japan's Nikkei Stock Average (JP:NI225 9,427, +50.23, +0.54%) rose 0.5%, South Korea's Kospi advanced 0.9%, Australia's S&P/ASX 200 (AU:XJO 4,648, +25.30, +0.55%) gained 0.2%, and India's Sensex (XX:SENSEX 20,278, +17.85, +0.09%) inched 0.1% higher. Ranking among decliners, Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index (HK:HSI 23,608, -41.46, -0.18%) fell 0.2%, China's Shanghai Composite (CN:SHCOMP 2,971, -12.51, -0.42%) lost 0.2% and Thailand's SET Index lost 0.3%. Shares of Canon (JP:7751 3,725, -35.00, -0.93%) (CAJ 46.25, -0.39, -0.84%) rose 1.5%, and those of Sony Corp. (SNE 33.40, +0.19, +0.57%) (JP:6758 2,707, +32.00, +1.20%) advanced 0.9% in Tokyo, with heavyweight Samsung (SSNLF 660.00, 0.00, 0.00%) rising 1.3% in Seoul. Shares of Sun Hung Kai Properites Ltd. (HK:16 133.90, -1.10, -0.82%) (SUHJY 17.28, -0.33, -1.87%) gave up 0.7% in Hong Kong, while Gemdale Corp. (CN:600383 6.83, -0.05, -0.73%) dropped by the same margin in Shanghai. |
