Asia Markets Weekend summary

The major markets across the Asia-Pacific region ended in positive territory on Friday, taking cues from Wall Street, where the major indices ended in positive territory on increasing confidence that the downturn in the economy has slowed down and the economy can begin to recover sooner-than-expected. Profit taking by investors trimmed the gains, however, with the markets in Australia and Hong Kong ending nearly flat, while the South Korean market ended in negative territory. The underlying trend seems to be cautiously optimistic among investors despite the downward risk for the economies remaining relatively higher.

In Tokyo, The benchmark Nikkei 225 Index added 152.32 points or 1.70% to close at 8,908 and the broader Topix Index of all First Section Issues advanced 13.53 points or 1.60% to end at 846.

On the economic front, Japan's service sector output was down a seasonally adjusted 0.8% month-over-month in February to 105.6, the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry said. The decline was worse than the 0.7% drop expected by economists and follows a 0.4% gain in January and a revised 1.6% decline in December.
Bank stocks moved up strongly in the session, while among exporters, Canon gained 1.84%, Sony surged up 5.93% and Sharp soared 9.00%. Toshiba Corp. reported an operating loss of around 250 billion yen for the year ended March 31 compared to its previous estimate of a loss of 280 billion yen. The company's shares ended higher by 4.40%. Automaker Toyota advanced 2.96% and Honda Motor gained 4.63%.

Retailer Aeon Co. has set up a line of credit totaling 200 billion yen with several financial institutions, expanding its sources of funds amid capital market instability. The company also refinanced 175.4 billion yen in loans that had been due in the fiscal year ended February 28. The company's shares are gaining 2.88%.
In Australia, the benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index added 1 point or 0.03% before ending at 3,778 and the broader All Ordinaries Index added 2.5 points or 0.07% to close at 3,728.

In the mining sector, BHP Billiton moved up 0.60% and rival Rio Tinto rose 1.84%. However, gold miners ended sharply lower after gold dropped to a ten-day low overnight

Banks ended mixed on profit taking at higher levels, while in the retail sector, Harvey Norman gained 1.42%, Coles' owner Wesfarmers advanced 3.41% and Woolworths rose 1.17%, but David Jones declined 1.31%. Woolworths said its sales for the third quarter, adjusted for Easter, increased by 6.5% to A$12.3 billion. Excluding petrol sales, sales rose 8.3%. The company forecasts full year sales, excluding petrol sales, to grow in the upper single digits.

In South Korea, the benchmark KOSPI Index closed at 1,329, down 7.72 points, or 0.58% as investors preferred to take profits after a recent rally.

Among financials, Shinhan Financial lost 1.88% and Woori Finance fell 1.51%, while KB Financial ended unchanged from its previous close. Shipbuilding stocks also saw weakness. However, technology stocks ended higher. Hynix Semiconductor surged up 8.68%, LG Electronics added 0.96% and LG Display gained 0.96%. Market heavyweight Samsung Electronics advanced 2.75%. In the auto space, Hyundai Motor gained 1.08%, but Kia Motor decreased 1.96% and Ssangyong Motor lost 7.50%.

In Hong Kong, the benchmark Hang Seng Index ended higher by 18.28 points or 0.27% at 15,601, giving away more than 350 points from its early gains on profit taking.
Property-related stocks ended higher, while telecommunication stocks ended mixed. Tencent gained 2.33% and China Unicom added 0.95%, but Hutchison Whimpoa lost 2.28% and China Mobile slipped 0.20%. Financial and China-related stocks saw notable weakness. Among resource stocks, Aluminum Corporation of China, or CHALCO, fell 4.45% and Petrochina lost 1.46%, but CNOOC gained 4.78%.

Among the other major markets, China's Shanghai Composite Index slipped 30.20 points or 1.19% before closing at 2,504 and Taiwan's Weighted Index declined 4.03% or 241.79 points to end at 5,755. At the close of trading, the Jakarta Composite Index in Indonesia was up 0.60% or 9.70 points at 1,635 and the Singapore Strait Times Index was up 0.25% or 4.81 points at 1,897.