Japan's Nikkei average rose 1.5 percent on Friday, buoyed by shares of tech companies with improved earnings prospects such as Pioneer Corp, while exporters climbed on data showing the US economy had returned to growth. The close of the Nikkei and the broader Topix was delayed due to problems with the close of one share Fast Retailing.
The Tokyo bourse later said while, it was still looking into the cause, the problem was believed to be a glitch with the trading system. Analysts said that while individual stocks were either being bought or sold on their results during the peak earnings day for this season, there hadn't been enough bullish results to push the market beyond the lift given by US GDP data. "A rally in US stocks prompted a market rise here, but further gains may be tough for now as investors now want to monitor the economic outlook going forward," said Kazuhiro Takahashi, general manager at Daiwa Securities SMBC.
Big tech firms gaining on earnings also included electronics parts maker TDK Corp and medical equipment maker Olympus Corp although Nintendo slid after it cut is annual earnings outlook as it Wii video game loses its title as the console to beat.
In moderate trade, the benchmark Nikkei climbed 143.64 points to 10,034.74, a day after it finished at a three-week low below 10,000. The index's close was priced more than 40 minutes after the regular closing time. On the week, the index shed 2.4 percent, while it slipped 1 percent in October. But it has gained about 13 percent so far this year. The broader Topix added 1.4 percent to 894.67.
US gross domestic product showed the economy expanded at an annual rate of 3.5 percent in the third quarter, the first quarter of growth after more than a year of contraction, sending Wall Street broadly higher. Analysts cheered the gains, but warned the market was ripe for profit-taking ahead of the weekend and that uncertainties remained about the global economy after US home sales data earlier this week had raised doubts about the pace of recovery. "It's hard to say if things have really changed, and there are a lot of other indicators coming up next week," said Yutaka Miura, senior technical analyst at Mizuho Securities.
"GDP data is relatively old, after all, and doesn't tell us much about more recent growth. So we know the past was good, but there are a lot of uncertainties still about the future." Investors will be watching a slew of US events and economic indicators next week, including a Federal Reserve meeting.
After the bell, Sony Corp posted a loss for the fourth consecutive quarter, hit by sluggish cellphone sales and as it cut prices of its PlayStation 3 game gear, but trimmed its full year loss forecast close to market expectations. Sony ended the day's trade up 2.8 percent at 2,785 yen. Some 1.9 billion shares changed hands on the Tokyo exchange's first section, in line with last week's daily average. Advancing stocks outnumbered declining ones by more than 2 to 1.
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