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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
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] 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
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] 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.
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