Asian stocks ended mostly higher on Friday despite concerns about the state of the U.S. economy and uncertainty over the prospects of the Fed winding down its bond-buying program. Trading volumes, however, remained thin due to holidays in Hong Kong and Seoul. The dollar held firm near a 10-month against the other major currencies, keeping commodity prices in check.
China's Shanghai Composite index rallied 1.4 percent as property developers gained ground ahead of April home price data due on Saturday. The cabinet's announcement earlier this week that it was cutting red tape to boost economic growth and reports that authorities will issue rules for a real estate registration system by the end of June 2014 also helped lift investor sentiment.
Japanese shares reversed early losses to end notably higher after bond yields fell following a recent spike. The Nikkei average rose 0.7 percent to end at its highest level since December 28, 2007, while the broader Topix index advanced 0.6 percent. Expectations for the Japanese government's economic policies, dubbed Abenomics, helped property developers close broadly higher. Mitsui Fudosan rose 2.4 percent, while Mitsubishi Estate rallied 3.4 percent and Sumitomo Realty & Development soared 4.2 percent.
Leasing firm Orix jumped 9.2 percent and Mitsubishi UFJ Lease & Finance soared 17.3 percent on reports the prime minister will encourage leasing to boost capital spending. Hitachi gained 3.2 percent after the company said it is aiming to boost its annual operating profit margin to more than 7 percent from 4.7 percent. Kawasaki Heavy Industries jumped 6.3 percent on news that it won an order for 100 rail cars from subway operator Washington (D.C.) Metropolitan Area Transit Authority.
In economic news, core machinery orders in Japan climbed a seasonally adjusted 14.2 percent in March from the previous month, the Cabinet Office said, beating forecasts for an increase of 3.5 percent following the downwardly revised 4.2 percent increase in February. On a yearly basis, core machine orders added 2.4 percent.
Australian shares rose modestly, led by miners and banks. The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 rose 15 points or 0.3 percent to 5,181. BHP Billiton rose 1.9 percent and Rio Tinto added 1.1 percent, underpinned by weakness in the Australian dollar and a rise in copper futures overnight. Smaller rival Fortescue Metals Group advanced 1.7 percent and uranium extractor Paladin Energy soared 4.4 percent, while gold miner Newcrest lost 2.3 percent, taking cues from weak gold prices as the dollar strengthened.
Virgin Australia Holdings rose 10 percent on bargain hunting after the previous session's selloff on the back of a profit warning. ANZ led banks higher with a 1.3 percent gain, Commonwealth rose half a percent and NAB edged up 0.1 percent, but Westpac shed 0.2 percent. WorleyParsons plunged 12.5 percent after the mining services and engineering firm cut its earnings forecast, citing lower resource spending in Australia and Canada. Wesfarmers declined 2.9 percent after the retail major said full-year earnings from its Target stores would fall as much as 43 percent from a year earlier, because of price discounting and restructuring costs.
New Zealand shares fell, dragged down by Nuplex Industries after the specialty chemicals maker cut the range for its full-year guidance by about $11 million, citing a strong kiwi dollar, weak demand in Europe and worsening conditions in Australia's manufacturing sector. Shares of the company slumped 7.4 percent, while the benchmark NZX-50 index ended 0.8 percent lower.
Heartland New Zealand tumbled 3.8 percent after Standard & Poor's cut the lender's rating outlook to negative. Heavyweight Fletcher Building dropped 2.8 percent and Telecom retreated 3.9 percent.
Retailers Warehouse Group and Pumpkin Patch rose 1-3 percent after a survey showed New Zealand consumer confidence rose to a three-year high in May. Separately, output producer prices for New Zealand gained 0.8 percent in the first quarter of 2013 compared to the previous three months, Statistics New Zealand said. That topped expectations for a flat reading. Input producer prices also added 0.8 percent versus forecasts for a 0.2 percent increase.
Singapore's Straits Times is little changed, with shares of Singapore Airlines tumbling after it posted a wider operating loss for the three months ended March. Elsewhere, Indonesia's Jakarta Composite index is moving up 1.5 percent and Malaysia's KLSE Composite is rising 0.1 percent, while India's Sensex and the Taiwan Weighted average are down about 0.3 percent each.
U.S. stocks fell overnight, with a disappointing batch of U.S. economic data on initial jobless claims, housing starts and regional manufacturing activity along with comments from a Federal Reserve official weighing on the markets. The Dow dropped 0.3 percent, the tech-heavy Nasdaq slid 0.2 percent and the S&P 500 shed half a percent.
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June 05, 2026 16:18 ET A busy week for economic news flow saw a slew of reports being released that reflected the trends in the U.S. labor market. In Europe, economic growth and inflation data gained attention as the European Central Bank and Bank of England head for policy session later in the month. In Asia, the monetary policy session of the Indian central bank was in focus as the country, a major oil importer, reels under the pressures of a weaker rupee and rising inflation.