Market Update
Asian markets closed mixed Friday as weak factory output data pulled the Indian benchmark sharply down and lingering concerns about the global economic slowdown capped gains elsewhere.
The Nikkei closed up 0.5%. The Hang Seng drifted 0.8% lower while over on the mainland, the Shanghai Composite edged marginally higher, up 0.1%. The Sensex closed down 0.7%. The S&P/ASX 200 gained 0.3%.
Chinese data that showed an improved trade surplus at $13.05 billion, up from $11.4 billion in April, still fell short of economists' expectations of an $18.6 billion surplus.
Coming on the heels of weak fourth quarter GDP data, the Index of Industrial Production slipped to 4.4% in India, according to the old index, impacting market sentiment.
Stocks on the Move
Investors were cautions ahead of Toyota's announcement after the market closed that its operating profit this year would fall 35%, with Japan's biggest earthquake on record severely disrupting production. The stock closed up 0.9%.
A weaker yen lifted exporter stocks and most auto-makers closed higher with Mazda Motor and Suzuki gaining 2.1% each, respectively.
Tokio Marine closed 1.5% higher on a media report that it is set to acquire a stake in U.S. insurance company WNC.
Yamaha Motor rose 3.7% after Citigroup raised the rating on the company citing a recovery in earnings.
Shares of Microchip manufacturer Renesas Electronics Corp. closed 0.6% higher after the company said production at a plant damaged by the March earthquake would return to pre-disaster levels a month sooner than expected.
Hitachi shares slipped 1%. The company said net income would drop 16% for the year ending March 31. It also said that profit at its power systems unit would probably fall 55% while income at the electronic devices unit could decline 58%.
Takeda Pharmaceutical dropped 2.9% after sales of the company's top-selling diabetes pill Actos was suspended in France due to concerns the drug might be a cancer risk.
Investor mood was dampened across the south-Asian region as the Bank of Korea raised its key interest rate to tame inflation.
Financials pulled down the Hang Seng as Bank of China lost 0.5%. China Construction Bank and Bank of Communications fell over 0.5% each in Hong Kong.
On the mainland, index heavyweight Petrochina helped pull up the Shanghai Composite, closing 0.2% higher. Huaneng Power International gained 6%.
Lower-than-expected industrial data ensure a negative closing for 27 of the 30 Sensex components. Realty major DLF fell 2.1%.
Index heavyweights ITC, Larsen & Toubro, Reliance Industries, SBI, NTPC and Reliance Infrastructure all closed lower in a range between 0.8% and 1.7%.
According to a media report, the strike by workers at auto-maker Maruti Suzuki's north Indian factory, now in its sixth day, threatened to spread to other component makers in the area. The stock closed down 0.6%.
The S&P/ASX 200 was lifted by mining stocks as major miners BHP Billiton and Rio Tinto both closed 0.5% higher.
Gold miners Newcrest Mining was up 0.1% and Kingsgate Consolidated closed up 1.2% as spot prices of gold rose higher in Sydney.
Oil Search jumped 2.9% while shares of the country's four major banks closed mixed.