- Obama says Boosting US Jobs is Top Priority
- More Consumers Giving 'Black Friday' the Cold Shoulder
- Prepare For Large Decline In Stocks, Next Year?
- Hewlett-Packard Earnings Rise, Match Guidance
- HP Comes in As Expected; Is It Time to Buy?
- Cramer: What Monday’s Housing Number Really Means
- Why the Dollar Will Likely Stay Weak for Some Time
- Bear, Lehman Execs Weren't Wiped Out by Crisis: Study
- How Real Estate Investors Skew Housing's Reality
- Can Murdoch Help Bing Challenge Google and Shift the Content Equation?
- HP's Mark Hurd
- HP Comes in As Expected; Is It Time to Buy?
- 9 Stocks That Play Rising Water Costs: Strategists
- Weis' Deal Likely Won't Change Big Money Contracts
- Gold Prices Can Double in 3 Years: Portfolio Manager
- Nov. 23: Unusual Volume Leaders
- Help Wanted—Please Run $4 Billion University
- Apple Comes to AT&T's Rescue
MOST SHARED
- The 'Real' Jobless Rate: 17.5% Of Workers Are Unemployed
- Wave of Debt Payments Facing US Government
- Why Amazon Rules Retail
- HP Comes in As Expected; Is It Time to Buy?
- JAL Slides to Record Low on Bankruptcy Jitters
- Paul: Audit the Fed
- Hewlett-Packard Profit Rises, Matches Guidance
- Prepare For Large Decline In Stocks, Next Year?
- The Social Media Gaming Threat
- Holiday Travel Outlook
Text Size 
Asian stocks jumped on Friday, led by Hong Kong, after U.S. economic growth bolstered prospects for company profits and fueled a rally on Wall Street.
The Nikkei 225 Average [JP;N225
Loading...
()
] ended the session up, as news that the U.S. economy has returned to growth lifted Japanese exporters.
Exporters such as Canon climbed after the U.S. government's first estimate of U.S. 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.
Sony announced its earnings after the bell, with a fourth straight quarterly loss due to weak cellphone sales and price cuts to its PlayStation 3 game console. But the electronics giant trimmed its full year loss forecast close to market expectations. Its shares rose 2.7 percent on Friday.
Pioneer shares pared gains to 6.9 percent after surging as much as 11 percent. The maker of car and home electronics raised its full-year forecast. It now expects a net loss of 59.5 billion yen, versus an earlier estimate for an 83 billion yen loss.
Olympus soared 9.2 percent after the Nikkei business daily said the company is expected to post a group operating profit of 28 billion yen for the April-September first half, beating the company's own forecast of 19 billion yen.
JAL rose 1.7 percent to 117 yen after it said on Thursday it would apply for assistance from a state-backed corporate turnaround body, setting the stage for a large injection of public funds into the troubled airline.
But Nintendo fell 4.5 percent after the company reported a 52 percent slide in quarterly profit on Thursday and slashed its full-year forecast as the Wii console loses its title as the videogame platform to beat.
Australia, South Korea Shares Jump
Australian stocks snapped a four-day rout with the benchmark S&P ASX 200 [AU;XJO
Loading...
()
] gaining. However, the index logged its first monthly drop since February.
Shares in Macquarie Group, Australia's largest investment bank, rose 1.5 percent after it reported a 21 percent drop in first-half net profit but grew its war chest of surplus capital by almost half to A$4.5 billion.
Miners ranked among the biggest gainers, having bore the brunt of selling on Thursday. Rio Tinto rebounded 4.6 percent, after losing 4.9 percent on Thursday.
IAG gained 2.2 percent to A$3.78 after the insurer said it was on track to meet its forecasts for the fiscal year.
Among related Macquarie firms, Macquarie Media Group slumped 8.6 percent after announcing a capital raising this week, and saying its U.S. unit had breached some loan covenants.
Seoul shares reversed course to close in the red as investors grew more cautious about the fourth quarter.
The Korea Composite Stock Price Index finished 0.3 percent lower, after rising 1.2 earlier.
Autos and tech counters weighed but Samsung Electronics bucked the trend to advance 0.7 percent after it reported strong quarterly results.
Hang Seng Rebounds, Gains 2.5%
Taiwan's Taiex fell 0.2 percent, despite the positive U.S. GDP data.
Upbeat U.S. growth numbers also lifted the Hong Kong market. The benchmark Hang Seng index gained 2.3 percent to recoup yesterday's losses. Telcos, property and bank stocks rebounded.
Industrial Commercial bank of China or ICBC rose over 3 percent after the Chinese lender posted a quarterly profit jump amid a lending boom in the mainland.
Rival Bank of China said its profit rose 19 percent, pushing its shares 3 percent higher.
China's key Shanghai Composite tracked the rest of the region, climbing 1.2 percent.
Singapore and Malaysia both gained ground, with the STI up 0.7 percent while the KLCI rose 0.1 percent.
More From CNBC.com:
- Get After-the-Bell Dow 30 Quotes
- Credit Spreads and Libor Data
- Futures and Pre-Market Data
- Currency Data
- The show attracts a big TV audience every year, but this year it may take on even more importance.
- …you'll want to be prepared. Tips for getting the most out of the post-Thanksgiving shopping frenzy.
- Congressman Ron Paul explains to Squawk Box why he’s pushing legislation to audit the Federal Reserve.
- CNBC’s Phil LeBeau took a test drive of GM’s flagship electric car. Here’s what he thought of the Volt.
- The energy company Power Efficiency is building tools that regulate the power electric motors use.
- CNBC’s technology reporter Jim Goldman guides you through the best gadgets to buy this holiday season.
Data is a real-time snapshot *Data is delayed at least 15 minutes