By Sarah Turner, MarketWatch
SYDNEY (MarketWatch) -- Asia stocks gained on Friday as
investors took a lead from a positive session on Wall Street to
push stocks higher, although most markets looked set to post a loss
for the week.
Japan's Nikkei Stock Average rose 0.7%, while South Korea's
Kospi advanced 0.3%, and Australia's S&P/ASX 200 index climbed
0.9%.
For the week so far, Japan was up 1.7%, though Australia was
down 0.8%, and Korean shares had lost 0.1%.
U.S. stocks rose on Thursday, and it the S&P 500 index's
(SPX) turn to take the spotlight, after the benchmark came very
close to matching the Dow industrials' move to a record high last
week.
An unexpected drop in jobless claims provided the trigger for
U.S. gains, suggesting that the labor is improving. Read: U.S.
stock rally lifts S&P 500 to near record
"Without a doubt the biggest worry to investor positioning right
now would be a reversal in the strong U.S. housing and consumer
story. Happily, the latest U.S. retail sales data allay such
fears," Bank of America Merrill Lynch's chief investment strategist
Michael Hartnett said, referring to U.S. February retail data out
Wednesday showing a strong improvement.
"We'll remain long stocks -- particularly global banks, Japan
and Europe -- in the absence of a damaging jump in rates or a
decline in corporate earnings," Hartnett said.
"Investors who missed the doubling in value of U.S. stocks since
early 2009 seem determined not to miss a similar move by the
Japanese equity indices," he said.
Hartnett said his bank's Japanese equity strategist has just
revised up his 2013 Topix target to 1,250. Friday morning, the
Topix traded 0.9% higher at 1,046.95.
Among Tokyo-listed stocks showing strong gains, Sony Corp. (SNE)
rallied 5.1%, Mitsubishi Electric Corp. (MIELF) rose 3.9%, and
Nikon Corp. (NINOF) added 2%.
In the auto sector, Toyota Motor Corp. (TM) climbed 1.2% and
Honda Motor Co. (HMC) rose 2.3% after a Nikkei news report saying
the two are likely to see particularly sharp earnings gains this
year as sales ramp up and the yen weakens.
Japan's stock gains also came as the government upgraded its
assessment of the economy for the third straight month, citing
improvements in industrial production and corporate profits.
Australian shares were rebounding from losses made in the
previous session, when strong jobs numbers prompted a following a
scaling back of interest-rate-cut expectations.
Banks and consumer staples firms were in the lead in Sydney,
with Commonwealth Bank of Australia (CBAUY) higher by 1.4% and
Wesfarmers Ltd advancing 1.6%.
In South Korea, Samsung Electronics Co. (SSNLF) lagged the
market, trading down 1.4% as the firm unveiled its latest
smartphone, the Galaxy S4, at an event in New York.
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