Asian stocks mostly rose on Friday in line with a rally on Wall Street as a tumble in oil prices eased inflation concerns, while the yen dropped against the US dollar even after the Bank of Japan hiked interest rates to a three-decade high.

In Hong Kong, the benchmark Hang Seng Index ended 146 points, or 0.6 percent, higher at 24,750 on turnover of HK$266.51 billion.

The tech index surged 94 points, or 2.2 percent, to 4,405 while the China enterprises index was 50 points, or 0.6 percent, up at 8,225.

Up north, the benchmark Shanghai Composite Index ended up 36 points, or 0.94 percent, at 3,911.

The Shenzhen Component Index jumped almost 231 points, or 1.72 percent, up to 13,640 while the ChiNext Index surged 74 points, or 2.25 percent, to 3,372.

In Tokyo, the Nikkei rose 882 points, or 1.38 percent, to 65,018 after the Bank of Japan raised the benchmark interest rates to 1.25 percent, a 31-year high, from one percent.

Japan's Nikkei was also helped by a drop in the yen against the dollar that came in the wake of the BoJ's well-telegraphed decision to lift rates to their highest level since 1995.

Pressure has increased on Japanese officials to further tighten monetary policy as a spike in oil prices caused by the Middle East crisis – which shows little sign of ending anytime soon – is expected to keep putting a floor under inflation.

"Given that underlying CPI inflation has been approaching two percent and financial conditions have been accommodative, the bank will continue to raise the policy interest rate," the Bank of Japan said on its website.

But the yen slipped to more than 157 to the greenback, compared with around 156 earlier.

Stephen Innes at Quintex Intel suggested traders were jolted by the fact that the hike was not unanimous, passing by a 7-2 majority.

"For a market looking for evidence that the Bank of Japan could shorten the distance between hikes, those dissents mattered," he wrote.

"Traders were looking for signs that the bank could move faster from here, yet two members were already arguing that even today's move had come too soon."

In Seoul, the Kospi ended 178 points, or 2.66 percent, up at 6,894, as chipmakers tracked an overnight rally in US peers, but still finished the week 0.2 percent lower amid worries about high bond yields.

The gains came after US Federal Reserve's lift in borrowing costs this week provided some relief to traders concerned that policymakers were not moving quick enough to address a spike in inflation that could deal a blow to the world's top economy.

That has been helped by news that Saudi Arabia was moving to restore within days about half of crude shipments disrupted by the stoppage of its East-West pipeline to the Red Sea.

The conduit, even more important since the effective closure of the Strait of Hormuz by Iran, was shut last week after being targeted by Yemen's Iran-backed Houthis.

Crude prices, which had soared around a fifth in September, have fallen sharply over the past three days, with West Texas Intermediate dipping below US$100.

Brent and WTI lost more than two percent on Friday.

The surge in oil this month has been among the main catalysts for rising inflation since the United States and Israel started attacking Iran at the end of February. (AFP/Xinhua)




Edited by Tony Sabine